Liberty placed five players on the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) University Division All-State Softball Team in addition to receiving three major awards, as announced today.

10th-year Head Coach Dot Richardson was voted VaSID State Coach of the Year for the second time (also 2018), while junior catcher Caroline Hudson was named VaSID State Player of the Year and junior Karlie Keeney was tabbed as VaSID State Pitcher of the Year.

Hudson is the first Lady Flame since Jessica Moore in 2007 to be named VaSID State Player of the Year, while Keeney is the second player in program history to be voted VaSID State Pitcher of the Year (also Julia DiMartino, 2017).

Keeney and Hudson were named to the VaSID All-State first team, where they were joined by senior shortstop Devyn Howard and sophomore outfielder Rachel Roupe. Sophomore outfielder KK Madrey was named to the VaSID All-State second team.

Virginia Tech led all Commonwealth schools with six All-State honorees, followed by five each from Liberty and James Madison. The Lady Flames tied Virginia Tech with four first-team selections.

The VaSID All-State program honors the top collegiate student-athletes in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Nomination and voting are conducted by sports information directors within the Commonwealth.

Keeney received her fourth career VaSID All-State honor, joining Julia DiMartino (2016-19) and Amber Bishop-Riley (2017-21) as the only Lady Flames with four or more All-State awards. Meanwhile, Hudson and Howard repeated as first team All-State performers. Madrey and Roupe both earned their first career All-State honor.

Hailing from Paris, Tenn., Hudson repeated as ASUN Player of the Year in 2023. She was also voted to the ASUN All-Conference first team and NFCA All-Southeast Region second team for the second year in a row. Hudson led the ASUN with 15 homers, 17 doubles (tied) and 51 RBI, batting .318 with a team-leading .636 slugging percentage. She had one of the biggest hits of the season, a go-ahead three-run home run to sink Montana Fouts and No. 13 Alabama, April 18. That was one of four homers this season against Top 25 opponents (also Duke and Central Arkansas). On March 5 against Radford, she became the first player in program history with four homers in one day. She carried a 16-game hitting streak into the second round of the ASUN Softball Championship.

A two-time All-ASUN selection, Roupe batted .317 with 15 homers, 50 RBI, a .634 slugging percentage and .415 OBP. She tied for the ASUN lead in homers (15) while ranking second in RBI (50) and fourth in slugging percentage (.642). In conference play, she totaled seven home runs (tied for second) and 22 RBI (third). A three-time ASUN Player of the Week, Roupe finished the regular season on a 10-game hitting streak in which she recorded five homers and 19 RBI. Roupe posted two grand slams on the season and also homered against nationally-ranked Virginia Tech. Also a standout on defense, Roupe had two catches featured on SC Top 10 this season. She hit two homers at the NCAA Los Angeles Regional and scored the winning run in Liberty’s 2-1 win over No. 2 UCLA on May 20.

Hailing from Providence, Ky., Keeney was recently rated No. 50 on D1Softball.com’s D100 Player Rankings. Also a three-time all-conference selection and two-time ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year, she led the ASUN with 27 wins (t-5th nationally) and 240 1/3 innings pitched (2nd nationally). That includes four wins over Top 25 opponents, besting three pitchers (Alabama’s Montana Fouts, Central Arkansas’ Kayla Beaver, Clemson’s Valerie Cagle) who were Top 25 finalists for the USA Softball National Player of the Year. She pitched two complete-game victories on the same day, May 20, as the Lady Flames knocked out both No. 2 national seed UCLA and Grand Canyon from the NCAA Los Angeles Regional. In ASUN play, she ranked second in the conference in both wins (12-3) and ERA (1.44). She tossed five shutouts this season.

Two-time all-conference selection Howard, from Tarpon Springs, Fla., set the table for Liberty’s offense. Howard batted .282 with a .372 on base percentage, .437 slugging percentage, eight doubles, three triples, six home runs, 24 RBI and 45 runs scored. She finished the season ranked third in the ASUN with 45 runs scored this season. She was tied for second on the team with 14 multiple-hit games and turned in five multiple-RBI contests. Twice this season (against Elon, Virginia), Howard led off a game with a home run. Her first homer of the season came against No. 11 Tennessee. In the field, Howard carried a .955 fielding percentage, mostly appearing at shortstop, and led the ASUN with 142 assists.

LSU transfer Madrey used her speed to great effect, leading Liberty in both batting average (.329) and stolen bases (26-for-27 – tied for second in ASUN). During ASUN play, she led all conference batters with a .453 batting average while ranking second with 13 stolen bases in conference games. A 2023 ASUN All-Conference first team selection, she recorded 13 multiple-hit games, including a career-best four-hit contest against Austin Peay on April 29. Madrey stole three bases on two occasions (March 5 versus Radford, March 9 against Ball State). She made several diving catches, including one which was featured on SC Top 10. She hit a game-winning home run against Jacksonville State at the ASUN Softball Championship and was named to the ASUN All-Tournament Team.

Liberty, ranked No. 25 in the final D1Softball.com National Poll, is one of only six NCAA Division I softball teams to win 40 or more games in each of its last six full seasons played. Liberty’s end-of-season RPI of 25 was its second-best in program history.

The Lady Flames finished the 2023 season with a 40-22 record. The team earned the first at-large berth in program history, flying to California for the NCAA Los Angeles Regional. Liberty made the most of its time out west, eliminating No. 2 UCLA and Grand Canyon to make a Regional final for the third time in program history. The Lady Flames set program single-season records for wins over Top 25 teams (four) and games against Top 25 opponents (16) this season.
2023 VaSID All-State University Division Softball Team
First Team
C – Caroline Hudson, Liberty*
1B – Hannah Shifflett, James Madison
2B – KK Mathis, James Madison
3B – Cori McMillan, Radford
SS – Devyn Howard, Liberty
OF – Emma Ritter, Virginia Tech
OF – Rachel Roupe, Liberty
OF – Addy Greene, Virginia Tech
DP/Utility – Bre Peck, Virginia Tech*
P – Karlie Keeney, Liberty*
P – Eden Bigham, Virginia
P – Emma Lemley, Virginia Tech

Second Team
C – Bella Henzler, James Madison
1B – Jayme Bailey, Virginia Tech
2B – Jaden Pone, Longwood
3B – Kenna Higa, Norfolk State
SS – Jasmine Hall, James Madison
OF – Kelsey Brown, Virginia Tech
OF – KK Madrey, Liberty
OF – Kelly Ayer, Virginia
DP/Utility – Tori Gilbert, Virginia
P – Cam Andersen, Norfolk State
P – Alexis Robinson, Norfolk State
P – Jenny Bressler, Virginia

VaSID Player of the Year – Caroline Hudson, Liberty
VaSID Pitcher of the Year – Karlie Keeney, Liberty
VaSID Coach of the Year – Dot Richardson, Liberty
VaSID Rookie of the Year – Eden Bigham, Virginia