NATCHITOCHES -- Two Northwestern State softball players were named to the All-Southland Conference third team Tuesday by the league's coaches and sports information directors.
 
Senior outfielder Kellye Kincannon and senior third baseman Jordan Rains received the honors as they led NSU (22-31-1, 12-15 SLC) to the No. 6 seed in the Southland Conference Tournament.
 
Kincannon earned her third all-conference honor after being named second team as a junior and first team as a sophomore, which included the 2015 SLC Softball Student-Athlete of the Year.
 
The Lake Jackson, Texas, native ranked in top five in the SLC in six different categories, which included 11 home runs (second), 40 RBIs (fourth) 12 doubles (fourth) and a .619 slugging percentage (fourth).
 
Kincannon holds three NSU career records with 184 RBIs, 445 total bases and a .720 slugging percentage and is tied with Cassandra Barefield with 53 home runs.
 
Rains is making her first appearance on an All-Southland Conference team in her second season at NSU after transferring from Houston.
 
The Houston, Texas, native does have two All-American Athletic Conference Academic selections, but Tuesday was her first SLC honor.
 
Rains had a team-high batting average of .297 with 12 runs scored and 13 RBIs.
 
She had a strong second half of the season, starting the last 29 games and batting cleanup in the last 11 after earning back her starting job at third base.
 
The Lady Demons will kick off the SLC Tournament on Wednesday at 11 a.m. against No. 3 seed Lamar in Conway, Arkansas.
 
Fans can hear Patrick Netherton call the game on KZBL 100.7 FM or via internet audio stream at nsudemons.com
 
Every game except the championship game will be video streamed live on the Southland Digital Network with Chris Mycoskie, Steve Ownes and Chris Kane sharing play-by-play duties. The game will be available via southland.org/live and the Southland Conference app.
 

2017 All-Southland Conference Softball Teams

First Team
Pos.	Name	University	Class	Hometown
1B	Kasey Fredrick	Nicholls	So.	Bridge City, Texas
2B	Holly Neese	Abilene Christian	Jr.	Plano, Texas
3B	Tori Koerselman	Sam Houston State	Sr.	Huntsville, Texas
SS	Peyton Hedrick3	Abilene Christian	Jr.	Forney, Texas
C	Bryn Baca2	Lamar	Sr.	Round Rock, Texas
UT	Erika Piancastelli3	McNeese	Jr.	Carlsbad, Calif.
DP	Alexandria Saldivar	McNeese	Fr.	Princeton, Texas
OF	Justyce McClain2	McNeese	So.	Phoenix, Ariz.
OF	Taylor Brown3	Abilene Christian	Sr.	Richland Hills, Texas
OF	Brittany Rodriguez2	Lamar	Jr.	Cypress, Texas
P	Rachel Smith	McNeese	Sr.	Baytown, Texas
P	Sidney Holman	Abilene Christian	Fr.	Belton, Texas
Second Team
1B	Mahalia Gibson	Southeastern La.	Jr.	Hattiesburg, Miss.
2B	Brooke Morris	Nicholls	Sr.	Denham Springs, La.
3B	Casey-May Huff	Abilene Christian	Sr.	Calgary, Alberta
SS	Amanda Gianelloni2	Nicholls	So.	Napoleonville, La.
C	Amber Landry	Stephen F. Austin	Jr.	Ponchatoula, La.
UT	Sable Hankins	Lamar	Jr.	Moore, Okla.
DP	Jessica Taylor	Nicholls	Sr.	Colleyville, Texas
OF	Samantha Mracich	Nicholls	Fr.	Metairie, La.
OF	Kinsey Nichols	Southeastern La.	Jr.	Alvin, Texas
OF	Briana Whisenhunt3	Central Arkansas	Sr.	Crandall, Texas
P	Kayla Gomness	Central Arkansas	Sr.	Lemoore, Calif.
P	Ciara Luna2	Lamar	Sr.	Seguin, Texas
Third Team
1B	Brianna Barnhill	Abilene Christian	Jr.	Rhome, Texas
2B	Kelly Meeuwsen2	Lamar	So.	Hillsboro, Ore.
3B	Jordan Rains	Northwestern State	Sr.	Houston, Texas
SS	Hailey Drew2	McNeese	Jr.	Fallbrook. Calif.
C	Christy  Trevino	UIW	Sr.	San Antonio, Texas
UT	Mikaela Flores2	UIW	Sr.	Lockhart, Texas
DP	Cyla Hill	Central Arkansas	Fr.	Henryetta, Okla.
OF	Kellye Kincannon3	Northwestern State	Sr.	Lake Jackson, Texas
OF	Ashley McDowell	Lamar	Sr.	Plano, Texas
OF	Danielle Ramirez	UIW	Sr.	San Antonio, Texas
P	Liz Carter	A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	Austin, Texas
P	Megan Landry	Nicholls	So.	Pierre Part, La.

² Two-time all-conference selection

³ Three-time all-conference selection

                

Honorable Mention – Catcher: Kaleigh Singleton, Abilene Christian. First Base: Alex Alonzo, UIW. Second Base: Carleigh Chaumont, McNeese. Third Base: Kassie James, Houston Baptist. Shortstop: Tiffany Thompson, Sam Houston State. Designated Player: Hannah Marino, Sam Houston State Utility Player: Sydney Bourg, Nicholls. Outfield: Braegan Hamilton, Abilene Christian; Taylor Schmidt, McNeese; Corina Thornton, Lamar. Pitcher: Lindsey McLeod, Sam Houston State.

Individual Awards

Player of the Year: Erika Piancastelli, McNeese

Hitter of the Year: Erika Piancastelli, McNeese

Pitcher of the Year: Rachel Smith, McNeese

Freshman of the Year: Sidney Holman, Abilene Christian

Newcomer of the Year: Mahalia Gibson, Southeastern La.

Coach of the Year: James Landreneau, McNeese