Fresno State Athletics
The Votes are in: Softball All-Decade
3/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 23, 2010
FRESNO, Calif. - After two weeks of voting the fans have spoken! The 2000-2009 Softball All-Decade team results are in!
A total of 255 fans logged on to www.gobulldogs.com and voted for their top infields, outfields, catchers, pitchers and utility players that played at least two years in the last decade.
First Base
Lindsay Milchovich
Second Base
Jenna Cervantez
Third Base
Haley Perkins
Shortstop
Christina Clark
Outfielders
Becky Witt
Rachael Donaldson
Vanessa Czarnecki
Catcher
Nichole Willis
Pitchers
Jamie Southern
Morgan Melloh
Utility/Designated Player
Daisy Gaynor
Lindsay Milchovich was a Bulldog from 2005-08 and played mostly at first base. She was a member of two WAC Championship teams and a WAC Tournament Championship tea m. Milchovich, originally from Covina, Calif., was a 2007 NFCA Scholar-Athlete, a 2007 Academic All-WAC and Dean's List honoree and a three-team Fresno State Scholar-Athlete.
Jenna Cervantez, originally from Clovis, Calif., was a four-year member of the softball team at Fresno State from 2005-08. She was a two-time First Team All-West Region honoree while being named All-WAC three times and to the WAC All-tournament team twice. While earning multiple academic honors in her career as a Bulldog, Cervantez also left Fresno State ranked in the top 10 all-time in career and single-season home runs.
Haley Perkins was a Bulldog from 2006-09. The local from Clovis West High School was a three-time Preseason All-WAC selection, three-time All-WAC honoree and named to the 2007 WAC All-tournament and All-Region teams. Perkins earned Academic All-District, NFCA Scholar-Athlete, WAC Scholar-Athlete, Fresno State Scholar-Athlete, Academic All-WAC, ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District and Dean's List honors throughout her four years. She ranks in the top 10 all-time at Fresno State in batting average, hits, runs, triples, total bases, stolen bases and walks. In the career lists in the WAC, she ranks in the top 10 all-time in at bats, runs, hits and triples. In her senior season, she ranked among the nation's best in the NCAA statistics in eight different categories, including triples and the toughest to strike out.
Christina Clark donned a Bulldog uniform from 2003-06 and is one of the most decorated student-athletes of the decade at Fresno State in any sport. She is the school and WAC record holder in doubles, home runs, total bases and walks and ranks in the top 10 in batting average, hits, hitting streak, RBIs, triples, slugging percentage and hit by pitch. Clark was the WAC Player of the Year her sophomore-senior seasons after being named the WAC Freshman of the Year in 2003. The NCAA statistical champion in total bases in 2004, Clark was a four-time All-American and West Region selection. She was named to the WAC All-Tournament team in 2004 and one of the top 10 finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award that same year.
Becky Witt is the only member of this team that was on the 1998 national championship team. She was a Bulldog from 1998-2001 and was a two-time All-American outfielder and a four-time All-West Region selection. Witt was a four-time All-WAC selection and the 1998 WAC Freshman of the Year. She was the Fresno State Female Athlete of the Year in 2001 and a two-time Academic All-American. Witt holds the school record for stolen bases and ranks in the top 10 in batting average, at bats, hits, runs and total bases.
Rachael Donaldson was a Bulldog from 2004-05. She was a Second-Team All-WAC selection her freshman year and earned WAC Player of the Week honors her sophomore season. In 2006, she sat out with a medical hardship and became one of the most inspirational athletes in the country as she battled cancer. She earned the 2006 Kiwanis Torch of Excellence Courage Award and the Central Valley ESPY's Inspirational Award.
Vanessa Czarnecki played at Fresno State from 1999-2002. She ranks in the top 10 all-time at Fresno State in total sacrifices, and hit by pitch. She was a member of the 2004 Greek Olympic softball team and a Second-Team All-WAC selection in 2002 along with being named to the 2002 NCAA All-Region Tournament team.
Nichole Willis was a `Dog from 2004-07. She ranks No. 9 all-time at Fresno State with a .465 slugging percentage. Willis was a two-time First-Team All-West Region selection and a Three-Time All-WAC selection along with being named the 2004 WAC Freshman of the Year. In 2007 she was named to the WAC All-Tournament team while guiding the `Dogs to the tournament title. Easton Sports named her an All-American twice.
Jamie Southern is arguably one of the greatest pitchers in Fresno State, WAC and NCAA history. Southern was a Bulldog from 2002-05 where she was a four-time All-American, a four-time All-West Region selection, the 2002 WAC Freshman of the Year and four-time WAC Pitcher of the Year. In 2002 she was a Honda Awards Program Softball Finalist. Also in 2002, she was one of the top three finalists for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year and she was a top 10 finalist all four years. Southern earned the Joe Kearney Award for the top female athlete in the WAC and is one of only two Fresno State student-athletes to ever earn the NCAA Top VIII Award. She was named to the ESPN Rise All-Decade Team earlier this year. Southern still holds the WAC record in victories, saves, innings pitched, ERA, strikeouts and school records in appearances, games started, wins, complete games, innings pitched strikeouts, shutouts, saves and no hitters. Southern was also an excellent hitter and ranks in the top 10 all-time at Fresno State in at bats, hits, doubles, home runs, slugging percentage and RBIs. Southern was also a two-time Academic All-American, the No. 1 draft pick in the 2005 LPFA Senior Draft and a member of the gold winning World Championship team in 2006.
Morgan Melloh is the only current Bulldog to make the all-decade team. Melloh is a junior from Fishers, Ind., and was named the WAC Freshman and Pitcher of the Year in 2008. She was also a Second-Team All-American her freshman year while earning All-West Region honors and being named to the NCAA Tournament All-Regional team. She was also named the Fresno State Female Athlete of the Year. In 2009, Melloh was named First-Team All-WAC and the MVP of the WAC Tournament. She currently ranks second all-time in the WAC and at Fresno State in career strikeouts and ranks in the top 10 in victories, appearances, games started, consecutive wins, complete games, innings pitched, strikeouts per seven innings, shutouts and saves. Melloh became just the fourth pitched in NCAA history to record back-to-back 400+ strikeouts in her first two collegiate campaigns. She threw her first career no-hitter on opening weekend of her junior season.
Daisy Gaynor, a Bulldog from 2003-06, is currently the strength and conditioning coach for the softball team. Gaynor mostly played outfield for head coach Margie Wright and earned Fresno State Scholar-Athlete and Dean's List honors.
Check back for the announcement of the Fresno State Baseball All-Decade Team on Wednesday, March 24.
Fans will have the opportunity for vote for their favorite Player of the Decade in the spring sports, Men's and Women's Golf, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Track and Field and Cross Country and Equestrian March 29-April 11 at www.gobulldogs.com.
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