Taylor Wike Highlights Four All-ACC Honorees

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Senior Taylor Wike headlines North Carolina's four All-ACC honors as the 2018 Defensive Player of the Year announced Tuesday afternoon as voted on by the league's coaches. Wike also garnered all-ACC first team honors in addition to sophomore pitcher Brittany Pickett. Juniors Destiny DeBerry and Kiani Ramsey round out North Carolina's honorees as all-ACC second team selections.

Wike is the first Tar Heel to be named the Defensive Player of the Year since the award's first year in 2017. Additionally, Wike is only the fourth Tar Heel to earn all-ACC honors each of her four years as a first team honoree in 2015 and a second team member in 2016 and 2017.

Taylor Wike led UNC's offense in nearly every category in league play with a .377 average, .652 slugging percentage and .469 on base percentage. Defensively, the shortstop led the team in assists and double plays turned to become the UNC career record holder in both categories. The four-time all-ACC selection logged four home runs in league play with two triples and three doubles. The Hiddenite, North Carolina native drove in a team-high of 17 RBIs and was nearly perfect with six stolen bases out of seven attempts, including two at Virginia. Wike recorded eight multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games, including a 4-for-4 outing with two RBI and two runs scored vs. NC State. The senior logged three consecutive multi-hit games at Virginia, scoring four runs and driving in three. Selected as the ACC Player of the Week twice this season, Wike also slugged home runs in back-to-back games vs. Pittsburgh.

Earning all-ACC first team honors for the second time, Brittany Pickett anchored Carolina's pitching staff tossing, 125.2 innings in ACC play – all but 27.2 innings. With a 14-4 league record, the sophomore led the ACC in innings pitched, shutouts and wins. Additionally, the Indian Trail, North Carolina native sits first nationally in innings pitched and appearances, second in wins and eighth in shutouts. Pickett ranked second in league play with 86 strikeouts. The ace truck out a single-game high of 10 three times and once in league play vs. NC State. Pickett blanked her opponents four times – twice vs. NC State and once each at Notre Dame and Virginia. Selected as the ACC Pitcher of the Week twice, Pickett gave up four or fewer hits nine times in conference play en route to her first team selection.

With one of the top batting averages in the ACC, Destiny DeBerry garnered all-ACC second team honors for the first time in her career. The junior batted .438 with 14 hits, slugging .500 with a .438 on-base percentage. The Thomasville, North Carolina native hit a perfect 3-for-3 at Virginia with a triple. DeBerry recorded two hits twice vs. Virginia Tech and Syracuse. After starting league play in the pinch runner role, the leftfielder tallied an seven game hitting streak after moving into a starting role. Defensively, DeBerry registered a perfect fielding percentage with 14 putouts and an assist from leftfield.

As the team's regular season batting average leader, Kiani Ramsey earned all-ACC second team honors during her first year in the league after collecting All-Big 12 honors at Texas Tech. The junior posted the third-best average for Carolina in ACC play, batting . 350 with a .467 slugging percentage. The Portland, Texas native recorded six multi-hit games and two-multi-RBI games, including a five-RBI outing vs. Virginia Tech on her first career home run. Ramsey drew 10 walks with a single-game high of three at Notre Dame where she later came around to score the winning run in the rubber game. Ramsey swiped eight bases – the second most for Carolina in league play, including two at Notre Dame. Defensively, Ramsey tallied 28 putouts and one assist from centerfield.

Regular season ACC champion Florida State swept the individual player honors. Jessie Warren picked up the Player of the Year honor while Kylee Hanson earned the Pitcher of the Year accolade. Sydney Sherrill rounded out the group as Freshman of the Year. Coastal Champion Pittsburgh's Holly Aprile was named the ACC Coach of the Year.

The third-seeded Tar Heels begin their run in the 2018 ACC Tournament Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against #6 Georgia Tech. For more information on the 2018 ACC Softball Championship, visit the 2018 ACC Softball Championship Page.

Below is the complete list of the 2018 All-ACC honorees.

ACC Individual Awards
Player of the Year:Jessie Warren, Florida State
Pitcher of the Year: Kylee Hanson, Florida State
Defensive Player of the Year: Taylor Wike, North Carolina
Freshman of the Year: Sydney Sherrill, Florida State
Coach of the Year: Holly Aprile, Pittsburgh

All-ACC First Team
Emme Martinez, Boston College
Annie Murphy, Boston College
Raine Wilson, Duke
Zoe Casas, Florida State
Kylee Hanson, Florida State
Meghan King, Florida State
Sydney Sherrill, Florida State
Jessie Warren, Florida State
Megan Hensley, Louisville
Sidney Melton, Louisville
Brittany Pickett, North Carolina
Taylor Wike, North Carolina
Olivia Gray, Pittsburgh
Giorgiana Zeremenko, Pittsburgh
Bryce Holmgren, Syracuse

All- ACC Second Team
Jesse Dreswick, Boston College
Chloe Sharabba, Boston College
Carsyn Gordon, Florida State
Emily Anderson, Georgia Tech
Draven Sonnon, Georgia Tech
Cameron Stanford, Georgia Tech
Destiny DeBerry, North Carolina
Kiani Ramsey, North Carolina
Alexis Holloway, Notre Dame
Melissa Rochford, Notre Dame
Abby Sweet, Notre Dame
Kayla Harris, Pittsburgh
Alexa Romero, Syracuse
Allison Davis, Virginia
Carrie Eberle, Virginia Tech

All-Freshmen Team
CC Cook, Boston College
Emme Martinez, Boston College
Rachel Abboud, Duke
Peyton St. George, Duke
Sydney Sherrill, Florida State
Cameron Stanford, Georgia Tech
Maddy Newman, Louisville
Alexis Holloway, Notre Dame
Abby Sweet, Notre Dame
Hunter Levesque, Pittsburgh

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