2012 RMAC All-Academic Softball Team

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Fort Lewis College softball player Stephanie Janes was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Academic Player of the Year, RMAC Assistant Commissioner Eric Danner announced today.

Natalie Janes and Chelsea Rodriguez joined Janes on the RMAC All-Academic first team, while Kassie Haubert, Cierra Walters, and Jordan Willis were named to the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll.

“We are proud that our 2012 Skyhawk softball team is showing how important the classroom work is to our program,” said second-year FLC head coach Kira Zeiter, who was a two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American and three-time RMAC All-Academic selection as a player at Adams State. “It is nice to see our players care just as much about their class work as what happens on the field. They are setting a standard for all of our future players to come.”

Stephanie Janes, a 5-foot-4 senior first baseman and pitcher from Xavier College Prep in Phoenix, carries a 3.82 grade point average in Business Administration-Finance. She earned RMAC All-Academic honors for the third time, having been previously named to the Honor Roll in 2010 and 2011. Janes becomes the first player in Fort Lewis history to receive the league's highest academic honor in the sport of softball. Earlier this month, she was chosen as one of the three recipients of the Dr. Troy Bledsoe Award as the top female senior student-athlete at Fort Lewis. She is also a two-time recipient of the D2 Athletic Directors Association/WeatherPORT Academic Achievement Award and joined the prestigious Phi Kappa Phi honor society this spring.

Primarily a pitcher earlier in her career, Janes became FLC's regular starting first baseman in 2012 and has enjoyed her finest year ever at the plate. She's currently batting .429 with 48 hits, eight homers, seven doubles, and 36 runs batted in.

She is FLC's career leader in saves (four) and ranks among career leaders in pitching appearances (third, 76), strikeouts (fourth, 244), victories (sixth, 16), innings pitched (seventh, 310.1), games started at pitcher (seventh, 44), put-outs (11th, 249), home runs (14th, 10), and RBI (15th, 57). As a freshman, she tossed fifth no-hitter in FLC history in game 1 vs. New Mexico Highlands on April 26, 2009. She also shares school single-game records for most home runs (2, at Colorado Mesa, game 2, March 7, 2012) and most times hit by pitch (2, vs. Colorado Mines, game 1, April 9, 2011).

“Stephanie has had a fantastic year,” said Zeiter. “She continues to consistently contribute at the plate, and leads on and off the field by example.”

Natalie Janes, a 5-foot-2 senior second baseman from Xavier College Prep in Phoenix, carries a 3.67 grade point average in Economics. Like her sister, she also earned RMAC All-Academic honors for the third time, having been named to the RMAC All-Academic second team the past two years. She's also a two-time recipient of the D2 Athletic Directors Association/WeatherPORT Academic Achievement Award.

Janes, who served as FLC's student body president and on the Board of Trustees for Fort Lewis College in 2011-12, is the school's career leader in hits (162) and RBI (109) and ranks among FLC career leaders in home runs (second, 26), doubles (second, 28), total bases (second, 256), runs (third, 89), at-bats (seventh, 460), assists (seventh, 197), walks (tenth, 43), sacrifices (14th, 14) and put-outs (15th, 221). She set the school single-game record with seven RBI in game 1 vs. New Mexico Highlands on April 26, 2009, and tied the record with two home runs in a single game three times during her career.

As a senior, Janes is batting .366 with 48 hits, seven homers, six doubles, and 37 RBI.

“Natalie has been a leader all over the Fort Lewis campus,” said Zeiter. “She excels in every activity that she pursues, athletically and academically.”

Rodriguez, a 5-foot-6 sophomore third baseman from Highland High School in Mesa, Ariz., carries a 3.67 grade point average in History-Social Studies Teacher Education option. She earned academic honors for the first time in her career. Last year as a true freshman, she was picked by league coaches as a third team All-RMAC selection. She was also named the RMAC Player of the Week on February 14, 2012.

Rodriguez is enjoying an All-America-caliber season in 2012. She leads all of NCAA Division II in on-base percentage (.613) and ranks among the NCAA-II Top 25 in walks (second, 0.9 per game), batting average (fifth, .492), slugging percentage (fifth, .937), runs per game (tenth, 1.21), home runs (14th, 14), and home runs per game (19th, 0.33).

She owns numerous FLC single-game records, including hits (5, twice), singles (5, at New Mexico Highlands, game 2, April 14, 2012), total bases (11, at Chadron State, game 1, March 18, 2012), home runs (tied with several other players, 2, at Chadron State, game 1, March 18, 2012), and walks (4, vs. New Mexico Highlands, March 19, 2011). She has already set new FLC single-season standards for runs (51) and walks (38) in 2012, and will likely obliterate nearly every offensive single-season record by season's end.

Despite wearing the navy and gold for less than two seasons, Rodriguez already ranks among FLC leaders in home runs (fourth, 20), walks (fourth, 53), runs (seventh, 74), RBI (ninth, 66), assists (11th, 173), total bases (11th, 175), doubles (16th, 19), and hits (19th, 94).

“Chelsea has been one of the top hitters in the RMAC all year,” said Zeiter. “She is setting the bar high athletically and academically, and it is impressive to see such accomplishments as only a sophomore.”

A 5-foot-10, junior pitcher from Berthoud High School in Berthoud, Colo., Haubert carries a 3.49 GPA in Exercise Science-Athletic Training option. She was named to the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll for the third year in a row and was a third team All-RMAC pitcher as a redshirt freshman in 2010. She is also a two-time recipient of the D2 Athletic Directors Association/WeatherPORT Academic Achievement Award.

Haubert ranks among FLC career leaders in victories (third, 26), pitching appearances (third, 80), games started at pitcher (third, 57), saves (fourth, 3), innings pitched (fourth, 350.1), strikeouts (sixth, 169), and assists (20th, 86). An occasional first baseman, she set FLC's single-game record with 18 put-outs against Colorado Mines (game 2) on April 17, 2010.

“Kassie is a player who her teammates look to as the rock on the field,” said Zeiter. “It is extremely impressive how she juggles traveling with other teams in athletic training as well as excelling in everything that we do.”

Walters, a 5-foot-6 junior outfielder from Pinnacle High School in Scottsdale, Ariz., has a 3.33 grade point average in Business Administration-Marketing. She received the RMAC All-Academic distinction for the first time in her career.

She ranks among FLC career leaders in runs (sixth, 75), home runs (13th, 11), and doubles (19th, 18). She set an FLC single-game record for at-bats (7) at Chadron State (game 1) on March 18, 2012.

“Cierra is a player who can get the job done no matter the circumstances,” said Zeiter. “She is a hard worker on and off the field and she shows how that hard work really pays off.”

Willis, a 5-foot-2 senior shortstop from Hico High School in Hico, Texas, carries a 3.43 GPA in Business Administration-Management. She is a three-time RMAC All-Academic award winner, having been named to the second teams in 2010 and 2011. She's also a two-time recipient of the D2 Athletic Directors Association/WeatherPORT Academic Achievement Award.

Willis is FLC's career leader in runs (93) and sacrifices (40) and ranks among FLC career leaders in assists (second, 362), hits (fourth, 144), doubles (fifth, 25), RBIs (sixth, 71), total bases (seventh, 193), put-outs (eighth, 269), at-bats (ninth, 451), walks (tenth, 43), and home runs (17th, 9). She also holds FLC single-game records for assists (11, vs. Colorado Mines, game 2, April 17, 2010) and hit by pitch (2, shared with several players, vs. New Mexico Highlands, game 1, March 19, 2011). As a junior in 2011, she set the school record for most sacrifice hits in a season with 15.

“Jordan is a player who makes the team click and go,” said Zeiter. “She puts her whole effort into everything that she does, both her class work and in softball. She sets the example for the younger players.”

Fort Lewis (24-21 overall, 22-14 in the RMAC) completes its regular season at Nebraska-Kearney (22-20 overall, 19-13 RMAC), with doubleheaders slated for 11 a.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. (MDT) Sunday.