05/10/07

Rilee Dawson	Erica Kozacek

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) has released their 2007 All-Midwest Region team and St. Scholastica’s Rilee Dawson (Sr., Eveleth, Minn./Eveleth-Gilbert HS) and Erica Kozacek (Sr., Jefferson City, Tenn./Jefferson Co. HS) were chosen for First Team honors.

This is the second year in a row Kozacek, a 2006 NFCA Third Team All-American, has been honored with an all-region selection. It is Dawson’s first.

The pair helped lead the Saints to both the 2007 regular season and postseason tournament titles in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC).

Dawson and Kozacek earned First Team All-UMAC selections announced at the postseason awards banquet during the tournament in Duluth last weekend. It was Dawson’s third consecutive All-UMAC honor and Kozacek’s second.

Also announced at the awards banquet was the 2007 UMAC All-Defensive Team and UMAC Player of the Year. Dawson earned all-defensive honors and was named the league’s Player of the Year, the sixth time in a row a St. Scholastica player has won the award.

Each set single-season records during a campaign in which the Saints finished 13-1 in the UMAC and 26-16 overall.

Kozacek broke the single-season marks for total bases (110) and slugging percentage (.932). Dawson set a new record in RBIs (51) and also broke a single-game record, smashing three homeruns in consecutive at-bats in a win over Bethany Lutheran College on April 27 of this year.

Both moved up the program’s Career Top-5 lists, Kozacek doing so despite transferring into St. Scholastica prior to her junior season.

Kozacek closes out her career second in homeruns with 20, 10 in each season, and is now tied for fifth in career triples with eight. Her two year slugging percentage of .880 tops the career list of four year players.

Dawson moved up to second all-time in strikeouts with 300, behind only Laura Heise (2003-06) who holds the NCAA Division III career record with 1,125. Her career 2.34 ERA moves Dawson into second best all-time and her .240 opponents batting average is third lowest in program history. At the plate, Dawson hit 13 career homeruns to tie for third and her 91 RBIs rank fourth all-time.

Kozacek and Dawson both joined the program’s prestigious Century Club by surpassing the 100-hit barrier. Dawson concludes her four year career with 105 while Kozacek totaled 106 in only two seasons.