LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Schutt Sports & the NFCA have announced the eight finalists for the 2021 NCAA Division II Freshman of the Year, and Northwest Nazarene softball phenom Sidney Booth has earned a spot on the prestigious list.

A finalist was named from each of the eight regions across DII, with Booth representing as the best freshman from the West Region. Booth is the first-ever member of the GNAC to be a finalist for this honor.

The recipient of the 2021 NCAA DII Freshman of the Year award will be announced on May 26. Created in 2015, the award honors the outstanding athletic achievement among freshman softball student-athletes throughout NCAA Division II. To be eligible, student-athletes must come from a NFCA member institution. With the cancellation of last year's season due to COVID-19, eligible candidates may hail from the 2020 and 2021 freshman classes.

Booth has certainly not looked like a freshman all season long, already the top pitcher on the Nighthawks and the best two-way player in the GNAC. She is currently in the top ten in the region in over a dozen different categories across hitting and pitching, and was named the GNAC Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-Region by both the NFCA and the D2CCA.

In the circle, she is first in strikeouts (163), first in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.52), first in wins (15), second in strikeouts per game (9.0), second in complete games (14), second in WHIP (0.91), third in hits allowed per game (4.96), and fifth in ERA (1.76). At the plate she ranks first in RBI (41), third in home runs (9), third in total bases (85), and eighth in slugging percentage (.697).

Booth will look to help lead the Nighthawks to their first NCAA championships victory later this afternoon, as three-seed NNU takes on six-seed Central Washington at 2:30 p.m. Pacific in their West Regional opener in Irvine, Calif.


2021 Schutt Sports/NFCA DII National Freshman of the Year Finalists
Atlantic – Brianna Hughes, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
Central – Torri Chute, Augustana University
East – Alyssa Herrera, Georgian Court University
Midwest – Kenzee Smith, University of Indianapolis
South – Ali Shenefield, Rollins College
South Central – Shelby Robb, Metropolitan State University of Denver
Southeast – Caitlyn Canady, Columbus State University
West – Sidney Booth, Northwest Nazarene University