NORFOLK, Va., May 7, 2024 – Morgan State’s Victoria Fletcher was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Softball Player of the Year the conference office announced Tuesday. Fellow Lady Bear Amber Rivas is the league’s Rookie of the Year and Vanessa Carrizosa of Coppin State earned Pitcher of the Year honors. Mercedes Hargett, Coppin State and Larry Hineline, Morgan State received Co-Coach of the Year accolades. 

All awards were voted on by the conference's head softball coaches and sports information directors. 

Fletcher repeats as the MEAC Player of the Year after garnering the accolade following the 2023 season. She helped the Lady Bears to a fourth consecutive MEAC regular season title playing as a pitcher and infielder. In the circle, Fletcher has collected a 2.44 ERA with a 0.96 WHIP throwing 62.2 innings. In 16 appearances, she has recorded a 7-4 win/loss record with three complete games and five shutouts. She has struck out 26 batters and has a .222 batting average against. For her efforts in the circle, Fletcher was named MEAC Pitcher of the Week three times throughout the season. At the plate, Fletcher has a .331 batting average with a slugging percentage of .517 and an on-base percentage of .404. In 118 at-bats, she has registered 39 hits with 10 doubles and four homeruns driving in 25 rbi and crossing home plate 12 times. 

Rivas is the only lady bear to appear in all 46 games for Morgan State this season collecting a .317 batting average. In 142 at-bats, the rookie has registered 34 runs on 45 hits with 10 doubles and three triples with 17 runs batted in. Rivas has tagged 61 total bases, stealing 14 and walking 13 times. She has a .430 slugging percentage, a .378 on-base percentage and an .808 on-base plus slugging percentage. 

Carrizosa has pitched 170 total innings for the Eagles picking up 13 wins in the circle and striking out 72 batters. She sits tied for second in the nation with 22 complete games pitched with four shutouts and a season era of 3.01. In MEAC play, Carrizosa finished 11-2 with a 1.70 earned run average, striking out 38 batters in 86.1 innings.  She went the distance in all 13 of her starts in conference playing while appearing twice in relief. 

Coach Hargett has completed her first year at the helm and led the Lady Eagles to a 15-6 finish in MEAC action and third place finish in conference standings. In MEAC action, the Eagles finished 2-1 against Maryland Eastern Shore and North Carolina Central, and were undefeated against Delaware State, South Carolina State and Norfolk State. CSU also earned victories against the top two seeds Morgan State and Howard. 

Coach Hineline has led Morgan State to their fourth consecutive MEAC regular season championship and secured the No. 1 seed in this week’s tournament. The Lady Bears finished 30-17 overall while collecting an 18-3 MEAC mark. This year marks the second time in three seasons that MSU has won 18 conference games. Morgan state was victorious against Maryland Eastern Shore, South Carolina State, Norfolk State and Howard during the regular season. They also finished 2-1 against Delaware State, North Carolina Central and Coppin State. This year’s salute marks the second coach of the year award in Coach Hineline’s coaching career at Morgan State. 

Joining Fletcher, Carrizosa and Rivas on the All-MEAC First Team are Coppin State’s Seryna Esparza and Manaia Fonoti, Howard’s Julia Holt, Alyssa Vasquez, Maryn Jordan and Bianca Worthy, Maryland Eastern Shore’s Nola Mountain and Ameenah Ballenger, and North Carolina Central’s Tyler Suttles. 

The 2024 MEAC Softball Championship begins Wednesday, May 8 at 9 a.m. at the Norfolk State Softball Field in Norfolk, Va. The championship game will be played on Saturday, May 11 at 12 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+. 

For more information on the 2024 MEAC Softball Championship, please visit the Championship Central page. 

2024 All-MEAC Softball Teams and Awards 
As voted on by the league's head softball coaches and sports information directors 
 
Player of the Year: Victoria Fletcher, Morgan State 
Rookie of the Year: Amber Rivas, Morgan State 
Pitcher of the Year: Vanessa Carrizosa, Coppin State 
Co-Coach of the Year: Mercedes Hargett, Coppin State and Larry Hineline, Morgan State 

FIRST TEAM
Pos.	Name	School	Class	Hometown
P	Vanessa Carrizosa	Coppin State	Sr.	Morena Valley, Calif.
P	Julia Holt	Howard	So.	Tucson, Ariz.
C	Alyssa Vasquez	Howard	Jr.	Eastvale, Calif.
1B	Seryna Esparza	Coppin State	So.	Hollister, Calif.
2B	Nola Mountain	Maryland Eastern Shore	Jr.	Surrey, British Columbia
3B	Victoria Fletcher	Morgan State	Gr.	Huntingtown, Md.
SS	Manaia Fonoti	Coppin State	So.	Waimanalo, Hawai'i
OF	Maryn Jordan	Howard	So.	San Diego, Calif.
OF	Bianca Worthy	Howard	Gr.	Goodyear, Ariz.
OF	Amber Rivas *	Morgan State	Fr.	West Hills, Calif.
OF	Tyler Suttles *	N.C. Central	Fr.	Menifee, Calif.
UTL	Ameenah Ballenger	Maryland Eastern Shore	Sr.	Lansdowne, Pa.
SECOND TEAM
Pos.	Name	School	Class	Hometown
P	Jaden Davis	N.C. Central	Jr.	Knightdale, N.C.
P	Ellie Bostedt	Morgan State	Fr.	Las Vegas, Nev.
C	Rylie Gilbreath	Norfolk State	Jr.	Meridian, Idaho
1B	Makiya Graves	N.C. Central	So.	Mebane, N.C.
2B	Lealani Ricks	Howard	Jr.	Madera, Calif.
3B	Kenna Higa	Howard	Jr.	Honolulu, Hawai'i
SS	Jaylah Barr	N.C. Central	Sr.	Batesburg-Leesville, S.C.
OF	Uxua Modrego-Lopez	Delaware State	Sr.	Burlada, Spain
OF	Brooklyn Tapusoa	Coppin State	So.	Salt Lake City, Utah
OF	Jayce Holt	Maryland Eastern Shore	So.	Birchwood, Tenn.
UTL	Merci Hart	Howard	Fr.	Los Angeles, Calif.
THIRD TEAM
Pos.	Name	School	Class	Hometown
P	Aaliyah Williams	S.C. State	Fr.	Savannah, Ga.
P	Emily Raubuch *	Morgan State	Sr.	Ypsilanti, Mich.
P	Mia Gonzales *	Howard	Jr.	Atwater, Calif.
C	Hailey Batista	N.C. Central	Sr.	Mebane, N.C.
1B	Emma Crowe	Delaware State	So.	Dover, Del.
3B	Julianna Mejia	Coppin State	Fr.	Lincoln Heights, Calif.
SS	Ky'Anah Lake	Morgan State	Sr.	Virgin Islands
OF	Celeste Gonzales	Coppin State	So.	Morena Valley, Calif.
OF	Kaylah Leslie	S.C. State	Jr.	Sunrise, Fla.
OF	Mia Ewell	Morgan State	Sr.	Portland, Ore.
UTL	DeAsia Lowther	S.C. State	Sr.	East Dublin, Ga.

About the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference 

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is in its 53rd year of intercollegiate competition with the 2023-24 academic school year. Located in Norfolk, Va., the MEAC is made up of eight outstanding historically Black institutions across the Atlantic coastline: Coppin State University, Delaware State University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina Central University and South Carolina State University.