Published: June 06, 2008 10:31 am         

Potomac State trio among nation's best

KEYSER - Potomac State College's Lindsey Twigg, one of the nation's leading softball hitters all season, finished the year with the fourth best batting average in the country among Junior College Division II players.

Twigg was one of three Catamounts to be nationally ranked at the end of the year. The others were Brittany Wright and Ashley Metcalfe.

Twigg, a former standout at Allegany High, finished fourth in the country with a .547 batting average, getting 47 hits in 86 at-bats.

"Lindsey had an excellent batting average and was very consistent all year,'' said Potomac State head coach Jim Walton. "She also drew a lot of walks so she had an very good on-base percentage, too.

"One thing we stress to our players is pitch selection ... swinging at pitches you can hit and drive. That is one of Lindsey's biggest assets. She has a very good eye at the plate, which shows in her number of walks. She hit a lot of balls very solidly. She hit for average and also for power, with nine home runs."

Twigg, who fought off two injuries during the season, led the nation in batting briefly near the end of the season. The batting title eventually went to Kelsie Archer, of Cuyahoga (Ohio), and Ashley Podschun, of Dodge City (Kan.), who finished tied with .576 averages.

Twigg, recently named Potomac State's outstanding female athlete, was 41st in the country in home runs. She also had seven doubles and one triple, scored 44 runs and drove in 40, and had an 8-4 record with a 4.16 earned run average as a pitcher.

Wright, a former standout at Moorefield High, was 14th in the country in hitting with a .512 average. She had a team-high 63 hits in 123 at-bats, including 26 doubles and six home runs. She scored 42 runs.

Wright was 37th in the nation with 51 runs batted in.

"Brittany led us in RBIs, as a freshman, which I think says a lot. She would go on streaks where she would just hit a ton,'' said Walton.

"She's a hard worker, and very confident. She suffered a broken leg in our final fall game, at Roanoke, and came back to have a great spring."

Metcalfe, a former standout at Southern Garrett High, was ranked among the national leaders in batting average, home runs and RBIs, and also in strikeouts for a pitcher.

She finished 17th in hitting with a .504 average, getting 58 hits in 115 at-bats, including 19 doubles.

Metcalfe was 21st in the nation in home runs with 11, and 31st in RBIs with 54. As a pitcher, she ranked 30th in strikeouts with 116 in 131 innings pitched.

"Ashley hit 11 home runs, and they were not cheapies,'' Walton said of Metcalfe's power. She really hit some shots.

"Ashley took a year off last year and did not play. So this year she was a freshman athletically but a sophomore academically. We certainly wish we could have her back for another year."

Twigg, Wright and Metcalfe were first-team All-Pennyslvania Collegiate Conference. Twigg also was second-team All-Region XX.

Wright, Twigg and Metcalfe, the 3-4-5 hitters in the Potomac State lineup, combined for 168 hits in 324 at-bats, a .518 average, 52 doubles, 26 homers and 145 RBIs.

As a team, Potomac State was second in the country in batting average at .403 mark, behind only national champion Phoenix (Ariz.) College, which hit .453. Phoenix and Potomac State were the only teams with averages of .400 or better.

"We had a team of very hard workers, and we had an excellent fall season. We played 16 games in the fall against four-year schools, and when you play better competition, you get better,'' Walton said.

Three other local players, all from Moorefield, had big seasons at Potomac State. Ashly Sites hit .436 with 58 hits in 133 at-bats, 44 runs scored and 15 RBI. Morgan Shockey batted .397 with 46 hits in 116 at-bats, 45 runs, 15 doubles and 27 RBI, and Ashley Conners hit .351 with 27 hits in 77 at-bats.

The Catamounts were Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference champions and finished with a 22-15 overall record.

Contact Mike Mathews at mmathews@times-news.com.