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Hawai‘i Hilo’s Amber Waracka named NFCA D-II Pitcher of Week; HPU remains in Top 10 Poll
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Hawai‘i Hilo junior
hurler Amber Waracka
(Kaneohe,
HI/Kamehameha) has been
named the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division
II National Pitcher of the Week for games played March
7-13.
The NFCA released the honor, along with its Top 25 Poll, on March 16 from its offices in Starkville, Miss.
It marks the second straight week that a Pacific West Conference pitcher has garnered the award. Waracka follows Grand Canyon’s Kirsten Linert who claimed the honor last week. Ironically, Waracka earned the same national honor during the second week of March in 2010.
Waracka, who also was the PacWest Pitcher of the Week, posted a 3-0 record during the stretch for the Vulcans that included a pair of complete-game shutouts.
She registered a 0.00 earned run average, struck out 19 batters in 17 innings of work, and permitted just five base hits and a .093 batting average for the entire seven-day period.
Waracka tossed a two-hit shutout at #5 Hawai‘i Pacific - the reigning National Champions - on March 13, and earned two wins vs. BYU-Hawaii on March 12 during the Vulcans’ tripleheader sweep.
She shutout BYU-Hawaii 8-0 in game one and chucked five innings of shutout ball in game three to earn the victory. The Vulcans won that game by the score of 5-2.
The NFCA also released its NCAA II Top 25 National Poll on March 16. Although Hawai‘i Pacific slipped in the rankings, the Sea Warriors are still in the Top 10 at #9.
The Sea Warriors now are 14-4 overall and 4-2 in PacWest league play.
The NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches, two representing each of the eight NCAA Division II regions.
