R-MC's Rhoads, E&H's Anderson Earn Major Honors

FOREST, Va. --- Nationally top-ranked Virginia Wesleyan University placed a league-high eight players on an all-conference team and earned three major individual laurels as part of the annual All-ODAC Softball Awards selection process. VWU outfielder Madison Glaubke was tabbed the ODAC Player of the Year, while lefty Hanna Hull and head coach Brandon Elliott repeated as ODAC Pitcher of the Year and ODAC Coach of the Year, respectively. Randolph-Macon College pitcher Madie Rhoads received ODAC Rookie of the Year distinction, while Emory & Henry College outfielder Erin Anderson earned ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete accolades.

There are plenty of new faces on this season's all-conference teams with just 15 returners from last year's season-ending awards list. Five of those players appear on the 2018 All-ODAC First Team. Both Hull and fellow Schutt Sports/NFCA Division III Player of the Year Top-25 "watch list" member and VWU teammate Cassetty Howerin repeat as first team selections. Randolph-Macon righty Candace Whittemore, who is also featured on the national watch list, moves up from the 2017 All-ODAC Second Team. VWU shortstop Kiersten Richardson and Roanoke College outfielder Katie Smith made the jump from the All-ODAC Third Team.

RELATED: 2017 All-ODAC Softball Teams | All-Time All-ODAC Softball Teams

Glaubke, a sophomore from Virginia Beach, Va., led all players against conference opponents with a .457 batting and a .603 on-base percentage powered by a 21-of-46 showing at the dish with an ODAC conference play-best 17 walks. She was second with a .674 slugging percentage. She scored 21 runs in the league slate, also ranking second. She reached base in all but one of 18 league games played, helping Virginia Wesleyan to a 17-1 mark and the top seed in the ODAC Tournament. Overall for the season, Glaubke is hitting .379 with a .506 on-base percentage with a overall second-best 48 runs and 35 walks. She has ripped nine doubles and legged out two triples in addition to hitting four homeruns, two of which came in league play. She has stolen 15 bases.

Hull, a sophomore from Chesterfield, Va., backed up her national player of the year status in 2017 with an equally impressive 2018 campaign. She went 12-1 in league, marking six more wins than the next closest pitcher. The southpaw posted a 0.87 earned run average with 105 strikeouts and just 31 hits allowed in 72.1 innings of work against league opponents. Hull's overall numbers jump off the page as the ODAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player enters the NCAA field with a 30-2 record and a 0.86 earned run average with 279 strikeouts and just 86 hits allowed in 196.1 innings of work. Earlier in April, she became the ODAC's all-time career leader in strikeouts, a mark which currently stands at 651. She fanned 10 or more batters in 12 games, including a season-high 17 in her first start of the season against Meredith.

Elliott is in the midst of his 11th full season guiding the Marlins softball program. This is the sixth time overall and second straight year he has been honored as the ODAC’s top coach, joining the awards he earned in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2017. Virginia Wesleyan is currently the #1 team in the country according to the latest NFCA coaches poll and just captured an ODAC-record 11th conference title. The Marlins have won 45 games this season, two more than at this same point last year. The Marlins enjoyed a 41-game winning streak into April. That run included the final six victories of the 2017 season that included a national championship and the first 35 games of 2018. Entering the NCAA Tournament, Elliott’s career record stands at 398-102 (.796) including 173-37 (.824) in ODAC regular season games. His teams have captured six of the Marlins’ 11 conference championships.

Rhoads, a freshman from Portsmouth, Va., stepped right in to the rotation to form a trio of effective starters that help the Yellow Jackets to a national #4 ranking by the NFCA and the #2 rating in the Atlantic Region by the NCAA softball committee. Rhoads went 6-0 in appearances (all starts) against conference competition. In 48.2 innings against league foes, she posted a 0.72 earned run average and struck out 63 batters, second-most in the conference. She tied atop the ODAC with four shutouts. Twice she notched a personal season-high of 11 strikeouts in conference games. Overall, Rhoads is 12-2 with an ODAC-best 0.79 ERA in 88.2 innings of work as Randolph-Macon awaits a possible at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. She has struck out 126 batters.

Anderson, a junior from Aylett, Va., is a model student-athlete on the field, in the classroom, and in her community. She maintains a 3.735 grade point average as a education major with focus in health and physical education. She will earn her third placement on the All-ODAC Academic Team at the end of the year, combining that with multiple Emory & Henry Dean's List honors and her membership with the Phi Eta Sigma honor society. In her community, Anderson has volunteered as a coach with the Emory Fastpitch League in addition to donating her time at a Title I preschool with four year-old students. She has worked with special needs children at River's Way in Bristol, Tenn./Va., and has been a contributor to E&H softball's "Light It Up Blue" campaign for autism awareness.

Listed below are the full All-ODAC Softball Teams.  For more information, visit the websites of the participating schools, or go to the ODAC's home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com. Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow the @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.

2018 ALL-ODAC SOFTBALL AWARDS
ODAC Player of the Year: Madison Glaubke, So., Virginia Wesleyan University
ODAC Pitcher of the Year: Hanna Hull, So., Virginia Wesleyan University
ODAC Coach of the Year: Brandon Elliott, Virginia Wesleyan University
ODAC Rookie of the Year: Madie Rhoads, Fr., P, Randolph-Macon College
ODAC/Va. Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete: Erin Anderson, Jr., OF, Emory & Henry College