Brooklyn Wagner Announced as PSUAC Newcomer of the Year; Three Honored on the All-PSUAC Teams

By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Mont Alto shortstop Brooklyn Wagner (Newville, Pa. / Big Springs) produced an outstanding debut campaign as her efforts earned her PSUAC Newcomer of the Year. The Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) also announced the selection of Wagner, Samantha Updegraff (Etters, Pa. / Red Land), and Abby Ebersole (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro Area) on the All-Conference teams, which was announced at the PSUAC Tournament on Monday afternoon.

Brooklyn Wagner (Newville, Pa. / Big Springs) earned First Team All-PSUAC recognition after leading PSUMA in many of the major statistical categories. The shortstop got off to a blazing start and was named the USCAA Hitter of the Week on March 20 after she finished the season-opening series against Trinity Washington with four doubles, a triple, and 10 RBIs. Wagner led PSUMA in batting with a .530 average, led the team in doubles (nine), triples (four), home runs (two), and drove in a team-high 32 runs. Her .530 batting average and .574 on base percentage led the PSUAC.

Samantha Updegraff (Etters, Pa. / Red Land) and Abby Ebersole (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro Area) both collected Second Team honors for the first time in each of their respective careers. In nearly half of her games played, Updegraff posted multi-hit efforts, tallying seven overall with six of them coming against PSUAC opponents. She had a five-hit performance against Penn State DuBois on April 13. The sophomore infielder finished her season with a .518 batting average, which was third best on the team and fourth in the PSUAC. She recorded 25 hits in 50 conference at-bats as a .500 hitter in league play. She was also second on the team in RBIs (19) and triples with two.

The team's leadoff hitter in 12 games this season, Abby Ebersole (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro Area) scored 16 runs for Mont Alto and also hit .526. Ebersole played outstanding defense in the outfield with a .933 fielding percentage with just one error for the Nittany Lions and was a threat on the base paths with five stolen bases.

Cassidy Feaser (Shippensburg, Pa. / Faith Tabernacle) was selected as Mont Alto's representative for the John Fritz Sportsmanship Award. Feaser served as the team captain this season and went 5-6 in the pitching circle with a 5.96 ERA in 56.1 innings. She finished her career with 18 wins and logged over 200 innings in the circle with 124 punch outs.

Named after former PSUAC Commissioner John Fritz, the sportsmanship award is given to one player from each team in the league who best displays the core values of the league and sportsmanship to teammates and opponents throughout the season.

Penn State Mont Alto just missed out on qualifying for the 2018 PSUAC Tournament with a 10-10 overall record.