ROME, Ga. – Two members of the Salem softball team were recognized for their performances throughout the course of the 2022 season on Tuesday when the USA South named Brianne Coleman as its First Team East Division third baseman and Abby Shelton as a member of the All-Sportsmanship Team.

It marks the second time in Coleman's career that she garnered First Team East Division honors, the first coming in 2019. She torched USA South pitchers for 18 hits in 44 at bats, finishing with a team-high .409 batting average. In 18 league contests, Coleman posted five doubles, five home runs, one triple while accruing 19 RBI. She also drew 12 walks, due in large part to a .544 on-base percentage and .909 slugging percentage.

Coleman had five multi-hit games against USA South opponents, including a pair of three-hit outings in the first game of doubleheaders with Pfeiffer (April 16) and Mary Baldwin (April 20). Two of her three hits against the Fighting Squirrels on April 20th resulted in home runs, marking the first time in her career with a multi-HR game.

The Creedmoor, N.C., native wrapped up her Salem career by starting in all 89 games, posting 109 hits in 248 at bats for a .439 lifetime batting average. She had 32 multi-hit games, including 18 during her first year at Salem. Those 109 hits placed her 13th in program history and she is also among the Top-15 with 90 RBI, resulting in her becoming the fourth player in Salem history with 90 RBI.

Coleman ranks among the Top-15 sluggers in program history in runs 68 runs (10th-most) and notched 25 doubles (tied-7th) and three triples (tied-5th) along the way. She slammed 20 home runs in her Salem career, second only to Spirits' head coach Kierston Garner, coming through with 10 as a first-year.

Shelton, also a senior on the 2022 unit, was named to the All-Sportsmanship Team. She has served as both a pitcher and position player at Salem during her career, where she earned two wins in the circle. Shelton's best single-game performance as a pitcher came on March 11, 2020, in a clash at Blixt Field with FDU-Florham. In that outing, she tossed a complete game six hitter that included one strikeout as Salem posted a 6-0 win and the team tied the 2017 unit for the longest winning streak in program history.

The Ridgeway, Va., native had a pair of three-hit performances for Salem in the 2022 season, establishing a single-game record for her at the plate. The first came when she finished 3-of-3 with two runs scored in a clash with Gettysburg at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C. on March 8th. She equaled that performance on Senior Day, versus Carolina University, when she went 3-for-4 from the plate as Salem defeated the Bruins 5-3.

In her final season at Salem, Shelton came through with nine hits, eight runs and a pair of RBI. She toed the rubber eight times, making three starts along the way. In the circle, she logged 18 innings, alloswed 31 hits and converted five strikeouts (1.94 strikeouts/seven innings).

2022 USA South All-Conference Awards

Player of Year: Rebekah Stegmayer, Piedmont
Pitcher of the Year: Cheyanne Cox, Greensboro
Rookie of the Year: Gracie Griffin, Pfeiffer
Rookie Pitcher of the Year: Emma Bullin, Pfeiffer
Coach of the Year: Monte Sherrill, Pfeiffer