Sydney Shubert, Morgan Ledbetter Receive First Team All-America Honors

EUREKA — This spring, Sydney Shubert (Canton, Ill./Canton/Heartland Community) and Morgan Ledbetter (Hanna City, Ill./Elmwood/Culver-Stockton) helped push Eureka College softball to program history.

Now, they're First Team All-Americans. The junior transfers were named to the 2019 Fastpitch News NCAA Division III All-America First Team on Monday.

This marks the first time an EC softball player has received All-America honors since Kerrigan Dura was selected preseason All-America in 2017, and the first postseason All-America honors since Jami Larson in 1993.

Both players led the nation in batting categories this season.

Shubert, the Red Devils' center fielder and No. 2 hitter, topped NCAA Division III with a .587 batting average and was named the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

Ledbetter, EC's first baseman and cleanup hitter, led D-III in home runs per game (.49) and runs batted in per game (1.66) while earning First Team All-SLIAC honors, being named the SLIAC Tournament MVP and getting selected to the NCAA Division III Whitewater, Wisconsin All-Tournament Team. She was also voted SLIAC Hitter of the Week on April 8.

Shubert went 71-for-121 at the plate with four doubles, two triples, 11 RBI, 13 stolen bases and 44 runs scored. Over the course of 33 games, she had 24 multi-hit games, tallied at least three hits 14 times, racked up four hits or more four times and went 5-for 5 in a late-April win over Principia.

She also recorded the second-highest on-base percentage in D-III (.618) and tied for scoring the third-most runs per game (1.33) while compiling a .984 fielding percentage with 56 putouts, seven assists and just one error in 64 chances.

Ledbetter put together a robust .526/.565/.1.070 slash line with 60 hits, 58 RBIs, 31 runs, 17 home runs, 11 doubles and eight walks, amassing 122 total bases. Her 1.070 slugging percentage ranked second in the nation in D-III.

She tallied 18 multi-hit games, racked up three hits or more 11 times and went 4-for-4 twice while recording at least two extra-base hits on nine different occasions. In addition, she registered 224 putouts and six assists in 233 chances at first base for a .987 fielding percentage.

Both players set their share of program records along the way as well.

Ledbetter holds the program record for most home runs in a single season and career (17) and highest slugging percentage in a single season (1.070). She also has the second-most RBIs in a single season (58), the third-most hits in a single season (60) and the third-highest batting average in a single season (.526).

Shubert holds the program record for highest career batting average and highest batting average in a single season (.587), recorded the second-most hits in a single season (71) and scored the fourth-most most runs in a single season (44).

Awards and honors have continuously trickled in since the Red Devils finished the season 27-8, captured their first regular-season SLIAC title in EC's 13-year league membership and clinched their second berth to the NCAA Tournament ever after conquering the SLIAC Tournament for the first time. The maroon and gold also earned the D-III batting title with a .402 season average.

Fastpitch News (FPN) is dedicated to covering the sport of Women's Fastpitch Softball. FPN provides news, analysis, opinions and coverage of college, high school, professional and international fastpitch leagues and organizations.