Payton named to All-MAC First Team

Saturday, May 22, 2021
Stacy Payton
Ball State Athletics photo

CLEVELAND, Ohio - - The Ball State softball team saw its run to a program record 31 Mid-American Conference victories rewarded Thursday (May 20), with six student-athletes earning MAC postseason honors as voted on by the league's 11 head coaches.

Leading the charge were a trio of All-MAC First Team selections in junior outfielder Faith Hensley, senior outfielder Haley Dominique and senior catcher Stacy Payton. Earning recognition on the All-MAC Second Team were sophomore pitcher Deborah Jones and freshman shortstop Kayla Lissy. Rounding out Ball State's honorees was senior center fielder Kennedy Wynn who was named to the MAC All-Defensive Team.

"I am very proud of the accomplishments that Faith, Haley, Stacy, Deborah, Kalya and Kennedy had on the field this year," first-year head coach Lacy Wood said. "There are some very strong athletes in the conference this year, which bodes well for the future of the MAC. It's a very competitive conference now, and will only get stronger moving forward. These individual awards are only a reflection on the team as a whole and it's accomplishments this year."

Ball State's six MAC award winners in 2021 are the most for the team since the 2014 season, when the Cardinals also had six different student-athletes honored by the league's head coaches. In addition, the three First Team All-MAC selections are the most for the Cardinals since the 2018 squad also had three.

FIRST TEAM ALL-MAC: Stacy Payton

Payton earns First Team All-MAC honors for the second straight awards season, as she was also a first team honoree in 2019. She ranked second on the team with a .369 average, 14 doubles and 43 RBI. Overall, 21 of her 58 hits when for multiple bases, including six home runs and a triple. Payton also scored 29 runs on the year, including what stood to be the game-winning run in three contest. She also had what stood as the game-winning RBI with a two-run home run in the opening game at NIU (May 12). Defensively, Payton was one of the league's hardest catchers to steal against as she threw out eight of the 24 runners attempting to steal with her behind the plate.

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