LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- For the first time in program history Bradley Softball had a pair of Louisville Slugger NFCA All-Mideast Region selections, with senior first baseman Alyson Clemente (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Valley) earning second-team honors and junior outfielder Kelly Kapp (Freeburg, Ill./Gibault Catholic) a third-team pick according to an announcement by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Thursday.
Bradley was one of five Missouri Valley Conference programs with two all-region selections, joining Wichita State, Drake, Southern Illinois and Illinois State.
Clemente returned from an injury which sidelined her for the entire 2015 season to rank second on the team in hits (45), doubles (10), home runs (9), RBI (38) and slugging percentage (.592) while hitting .317 for the year. In MVC play, Clemente owned a .338 average and .422 on base percentage. She reached base 49 percent of the time she led off an inning and owned a .326 average with runners on base.
Bradley's career home run leader with 21, her nine homers in 2016 ranks third among Bradley season marks and her career-best 38 RBI is the seventh-best season total in school history. In addition, her .592 slugging percentage this spring is fourth all-time and she is one of two players in Bradley history to drive in 37 or more runs in two different seasons.
The four-year starter at first base finished her career tied for third in career games played at 210 and her streak of 208 consecutive starts is the second longest in school history. A .294 career hitter, Clemente also ranks among Bradley's career top 10 in at bats (3rd - 612), hits (6th - 180), doubles (4th - 34), RBI (4th - 112), runs (4th - 99), walks (3rd - 67), hit by pitch (2nd - 20), slugging percentage (10th - .459) and on base percentage (6th - .379) along with holding the school career marks for home runs (21) and putouts (1,402).
Kapp ranked third in the Missouri Valley Conference with a .405 batting average and had a league-high 25 stolen bases to become just the fourth player in league history to swipe 25 or more bases in two different seasons. The third player in program history to hit .400 in a season, Kapp's average was the best by a Brave since 1994 (Jen Wethington .404) and second behind Sharon Kempf's 1989 school record .409.
The league-leader with four triples, Kapp had 66 hits and her 140 hits over the last two seasons are the most in a two-year span in program history. She scored a team-high 37 runs in 2016 to match her 2015 total and tie for the eighth-best season total at Bradley. Kapp was named MVC Player of the Week after hitting .684 (13-for-19) with eight runs at the Phllis Rafter Memorial in mid-February.
Kapp had a team-best 11-game hit streak in 2016 and collected a team-high 22 multi-hit games. Over the final seven games this spring, she was 12-for-22 (.545) with six runs, two doubles, one triple and three stolen bases. She enters her senior season needing just four hits to move into Bradley's career top 10 and is already fourth in career steals with 57 in addition to ranking 10th in school history with 84 career runs. Her .393 career batting average would be a school record and her .423 career on base percentage would rank fifth among Bradley career marks.
