Five Sooners Claim All-Region Acclaim

NORMAN, Okla. -- Five players on the Oklahoma softball team were named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Midwest All-Region Team on Wednesday afternoon. Garnering First Team acclaim were pitcher Kami Keiter, third baseman Norrelle Dickson, catcher Heather Scaglione and outfielder Kristin Vesely. Earning Second Team honors for the Sooners was outfielder Jessica Leslie.

“These honors are well deserved for everyone involved and certainly something they can take great pride in,” said OU head coach Patty Gasso. “To be honest, though, I kind of wish all the awards would come out when the season is over. We are focusing on one goal and that is winning the Norman Regional right now. Everything else is peripheral.”

It marks the second time that Dickson (2004), Scaglione (2004) and Keiter (2003) have garnered the All-Region honors in their respective careers. It is the first such honors for Leslie and Vesely. All-time OU has collected 58 All-Midwest accolades.

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The awards add to an already long list from this season. Five Sooners were named to the All-Big 12 First Team, while Scaglione also garnered the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award. Additionally, Scaglione and Vesely are semifinalists for the USA Softball Player of the Year award.

All five Sooners are now eligible for All-America honors, which will be announced during the week of the Women's College World Series, June 2-8.

As Gasso alluded to, the Sooners are preparing for NCAA Regionals. For the fifth time since 1997, the OU softball complex will be a host site for an NCAA Division I Softball Regional. The Sooners are seeded 14th nationally and number one in the Norman Regional. They will have to contend with (2) Oregon (34-23), (3) Louisiana Lafayette (50-8) and (4) Wichita State (46-16) during action this Friday-Sunday.

The first pitch of Regional No. 14 is set for 5 p.m. Friday between Oregon and Lafayette. OU will open NCAA postseason play at 7:30 p.m. against WSU. The winners of both contests Friday will advance to a 1 p.m. meeting on Saturday, while the losers will advance to a 3:30 meeting. The four-team tourney is double elimination with the winner advancing to a Super Regional with the winner of Regional No. 3 next weekend.

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