Nicole Cade and Hannah Shalett of Ithaca Named Softball All-Americans
May 18, 2007
From Ithaca Sports Information Release
ITHACA, N.Y. – Senior catcher Hannah Shalett (Shepaug Valley/Bridgewater, Conn.) and junior pitcher Nicole Cade (Beaverton/Portland, Ore.) of the Ithaca College softball team have been named first-team all-Americans by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). They are the 11th and 12th Bombers to receive all-American recognition and bring Ithaca’s first-team selections to eight. This also marks the second time in program history that the Bombers have had two first-team all-Americans (Carol Buckheit and Mildred Piscopo were both first-team selections in 1985). Only two other schools had two first-team all-Americans.
Shalett is the program’s second catcher to receive all-American honors (Kristin Furdon was a first-team all-American in 2000 and 2002). A four-time NFCA all-region selection and a four-time first-team Empire 8 all-star, she was named the 2007 Empire 8 Player of the Year. Shalett started all 44 games at catcher as a senior and led the team with a career-best .417 batting average. She recorded 55 hits (the program’s fourth-highest single-season total), 12 doubles, one home run, 31 RBI and 26 runs scored. She is a six-time Empire 8 Player of the Week, earning the award at least once in all four of her seasons. Shalett was named to the all-tournament team at the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 regionals and last spring’s College World Series. She owns the program’s sixth-highest career batting average (.350), is fourth in career hits (172), sixth in career runs (107) and eighth in career RBI’s (102).
Cade, who was selected as a utility player, is a two-time first-team all-region and all-conference selection and was the inaugural winner of the Empire 8’s Pitcher of the Year award in 2007. A four-time Empire 8 Pitcher of the Week this spring (and an eight-time pick in her career), she posted a 20-4 record in 26 appearances this season with a 1.26 ERA and 162 strikeouts. She held opposing batters to a .176 batting average in 139.0 innings. In the Empire 8 Championship Tournament, she went 2-0 in three appearances, allowing just five hits and no runs while striking out 20 batters in 18.0 innings. In the tournament final, Cade tossed a one-hitter with six strikeouts against St. John Fisher and threw a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts in the Bombers second-round win over the Cardinals. She batted .339 this season with 37 hits, 26 RBI and 18 runs scored. Cade has been an all-tournament pick at all three NCAA regional tournaments in her career and has been a first-team choice to the academic all-district team the last two seasons. She is third on Ithaca’s career strikeout list (434), fourth with 52 career wins, seventh with 409 innings pitched and 12th with an ERA of 1.52. Her 161 strikeouts this spring are the program’s fourth-highest total.
The Bombers, 35-9 on the season, placed third at the NCAA Northeast Regional. Ithaca won the Empire 8 regular-season title with the leagues second-ever 12-0 record (the Bombers were 12-0 in 2006 as well) then won three games in the Empire 8 Championship Tournament.