European edition, Sunday, July 1, 2007
Four-time first-team selection Kasy’e Lalau of Patch tops the 2007 All-Europe softball roster.
Lalau, described on her nomination sheet as “pitcher/all,” went 11-5 this season, tossing eight no-hitters, striking out 156 batters in 83 innings and compiling a 1.19 ERA. Lalau also batted .492 and stole 42 bases.
Those stats attracted the attention of a panel of coaches — John Gilmore of D-I champion Lakenheath, Kent Grosshuesch of Ramstein and Dan Vasquez of Bitburg — chaired by DODDS-Europe athletic director Karen Seadore.
Lalau, the only player selected from Patch, was one of two holdovers from 2006 on the first team.
The other was sophomore catcher and infielder Lisa McBride of Lakenheath. Junior second baseman Kayla Haven of Ramstein made the first team after earning a second-team selection in 2006.
McBride hit .636 and capped the season with a three-run homer in Lakenheath’s 5-4 title-game victory over Ramstein that ended the Lady Royals’ four-year reign atop Big Schools softball. She was voted tournament MVP.
“Lisa is one of the finest power hitters I have ever worked with,” Gilmore said of his star, who he believes would have been one of the best shortstops in Division I if he hadn’t needed her to catch.
Haven, who batted .550, led the potent Ramstein lineup in batting for the second straight year.
Senior shortstop Sharena Cabrera of Baumholder, a first-teamer in 2006, made the second team this time, along with repeat second-teamers Elisa Nieves, a senior pitcher/shortstop from Wiesbaden and senior first baseman Amber Zgonina of Bitburg.
The other 14 players chosen — nine on the first team and five on the second — are first-time choices. Two are freshmen from Ramstein: first teamer Kristan Burns, a pitcher, and second-team shortstop Lindsey Jones.
Burns (7-3) pitched most of her team’s big games and batted .500.
Lakenheath and Ramstein landed the most players on the 20-player squad, with four each. Only two players, both sophomores, who participated in the four-team Small Schools tournament — first baseman/pitcher Caitlin Cloum of Alconbury and third baseman Nicole Edwards from champion Rota — made the team. Both were selected for the second-team.
