Northwestern University Athletics
School-Record Six Wildcats Earn NFCA All-Region Awards
5/14/2015 10:44:00 AM | Softball
Andrea Filler headlines NU's biggest contingent since 2007 as a first-team choice
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Led by first team All-Region shortstop Andrea Filler (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger), Northwestern placed six Wildcats on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Great Lakes Region team, announced today by the NFCA.
One year after five Wildcats won this honor, the six All-Region awards in 2015 match NU's program record established in 2007. Joining Filler on the current All-Region teams are Big Ten Freshman of the Year outfielder Sabrina Rabin (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North), senior outfielder Andrea DiPrima (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) and pitcher Kristen Wood (Trevor, Wis./Wilmot Union) on the second team with first baseman Julia Kuhn (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) and DP Amy Letourneau (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) on the third team.
Filler ranks 19th in the nation in RBIs per game and has compiled 60 overall in NU's 49 games this season, the fourth-best single-season total in program history. She is batting .392 with a team-best .741 slugging percentage on the strength of career-best totals for doubles (14) and home runs (12). Filler's honor is her second after winning an All-Region second-team nod last season.
Needing to replace one of the nation's best leadoff hitters in Emily Allard following the 2014 season, the freshman Rabin stepped up and stepped in for Northwestern. After taking a couple of weeks to adjust to the college game, Rabin has been unstoppable, growing her batting average to a team-best .411 with 50 runs scored and 28 stolen bases. The best testament to her speed came in a game at then-No. 25 Notre Dame late in the season when she scored on a sacrifice fly -- from second base!
DiPrima has been a hitting machine since her sophomore season, and her senior year has been the best yet. She is batting .389 with 10 doubles and a career-best 10 home runs after entering 2015 with just four-career dingers. She also leads Northwestern with 34 walks to give her an on-base percentage north of .500 at .505. DiPrima currently ranks third in NU history in doubles, fourth in batting, fourth in on-base percentage and eighth in slugging. She was a third-team All-Region choice last year.
For the second-straight year, Wood won All-Region honors after stepping up to lead the Northwestern pitching staff through injury issues. One year after assuming the ace mantle and performing wonderfully, Wood again has thrown the lion's share of the innings for the Wildcats in 2015. She has compiled 221 strikeouts in 182.2 innings pitched to rank among the nation's leaders in Ks per seven innings while winning 16 games and tossing five shutouts including the third no-hitter of her career.
Kuhn won her first All-Region award this year on the strength of a phenomenal senior campaign that has been by far the best of her career. NU's first baseman concluded the regular season batting .336 with 11 doubles, five home runs and 34 RBIs -- more than doubling her career totals in those categories in just 2015. Additionally she has taken her stellar defense to the next level, making just one error at first base in 235 chances.
Letourneau picked up her second-career All-Region honor this season after being a second-team choice in 2013. Returning from a medical hardship year in 2014, Letourneau has batted .362 for Northwestern this year with eight doubles, seven home runs and a .638 slugging percentage.
