Hope College softball player Sydney Jones has been selected to the 2018 Schutt Sports/National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III National Player of the Year watch list for the 2018 season.
The senior from South Lyon, Michigan (East HS) is one of 50 NCAA Division III players
recognized.
The list is compiled annually by the NFCA’s Division III All-America committee. The
list will subsequently be cut to 25 and 10 as the season progresses, before the winner
is chosen following the completion of the NCAA Championship.
Jones is coming off a 2017 season in which she posted a 17-7 overall record while
helping the Flying Dutch reach the regional finals of the NCAA Division III Tournament
and claim a share of a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship.
Jones earned All-America honors from Fastpitch News, all-region honors from the NFCA
and was named the MIAA’s Most Valuable Pitcher.
Jones set school records with 17 wins, 11 shutouts, 23 starts, 22 complete games and
229 strikeouts in a single season. Her 1.18 ERA is second-lowest in Flying Dutch history.
Jones also became the Flying Dutch's career strikeout leader during the 2017 season.
She has 482 career strikeouts in 363 ⅓ innings.
Jones fielded her position and first base well as a junior, recording a .994 fielding
percentage with just one error in 154 chances.