Tori Belton made an immediate impact in her first season with the SFU Clan softball team, earning league honours.
Belton, a right-handed pitcher from Langley, was named the Newcomer of the Year for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference on Monday.
She transferred from Douglas College and went 10-10 on the mound with 53 strikeouts. Belton also set a team record with seven saves, which also led the GNAC and tied for third overall among all NCAA Division II schools.
“Tori has been a welcome addition to our team, both with her performance in the pitching circle and her team approach off the field,” said Clan head coach Mike Renney.
“She had a number of strong starts on the mound and had a tremendous impact coming out of the bullpen in save situations.”
And another Langley player for the Clan, Nicole Ratel, earned an honourable mention for conference all-star.
Langley’s Ratel was one of the top batters in the conference, capping her SFU career by playing her best when it mattered most. During the Clan’s final home stand when a conference post-season berth was on the line, she went 8 of 12 at the plate with 8 RBIs and 4 home runs. Ratel led the team with a .402 batting average which ranked eighth in the GNAC.
She was third in the GNAC in slugging percent (.697), first in on-base percent (.512), third in RBI (48), sixth in home runs (10) and second in walks (32).
Ratel is fourth all-time for the Clan in home runs (17), and 13th in RBI (87).
The Clan went 26-24 but did not qualify for the post-season.
