5/3/19

DAHLONEGA – For the fourth time in Peach Belt Conference history, one school brought home the league’s Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year and Coach of the Year awards as the University of North Georgia had Marley Stowers, Kylee Smith and Mike Davenport earn their respective awards Thursday night at the conference banquet prior to the start of the tournament.

North Georgia has brought home the three major awards in 2015 and 2016 in addition to 2019, while Armstrong State earned all three awards in 2012. In addition to the three major awards, Smith and Stowers were named First Team All-Conference, while Kaylyn Anthony and Hobby Gregory earned Second Team honors.

Stowers started in all 50 games for the Nighthawks this season. A senior third baseman from Concord, Georgia, she hit .336 with five home runs and 34 RBI. Those numbers jumped dramatically in 20 conference games where she hit .424 with three home runs and 21 RBI. In conference play, she had a .729 slugging percentage and .513 on-base percentage and was ranked in the PBC’s top four in runs, hits, triples, home runs, RBI, total bases, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging. She becomes the third Nighthawk to be named the PBC Player of the Year, joining Kim McMillan in 2015 and Stephanie Hartness in 2016. 

Smith is quickly moving up several PBC all-time career lists. The junior from Suwanee, Georgia, is currently seventh in all-time strikeouts and fifth in wins. In 2019, she leads NCAA Division II with a 0.50 ERA and is third nationally in strikeouts, tied for second in shutouts and for fourth in wins. 24-2 on the year heading into the PBC Tournament, she has been named the PBC Pitcher of the Week a record six times and was the NFCA National Pitcher of the Week on April 3. Smith becomes the fourth player in PBC history to be named the Pitcher of the Year in back-to-back seasons; three of them coming from North Georgia with Sarah Phillips in 2009-10 and Courtney Poole in 2015-16.

Davenport’s Nighthawks won their sixth straight PBC regular-season championship in 2019 and are the top seed as they attempt to win their sixth straight league tournament title this weekend. 39-11 overall on the season and 16-4 in conference play, North Georgia has been ranked in the NFCA’s top five in 11 of the 12 weekly polls this season and was ranked No. 1 in the nation on March 20. Davenport wins the Coach of the Year award for the fifth time in the last six years and his eighth overall, more than any other softball coach in league history. 

The Nighthawks will take on UNC Pembroke tomorrow afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the league tournament at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
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