NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - University of Dayton freshman Emma Schutter has been named the 2022 Atlantic 10 Softball Rookie of the Year as announced by the conference office Tuesday. Schutter joined seniors Alyssa Cacini and Kelsey Gumm and juniors Grace Gressly and Ali Weekley on All-Conference Teams.

Schutter is the second Flyer in program history to be named Rookie of the Year. The first was Manda Cash in 2015.

George Washington graduate student Sierra Lange was named the league's Pitcher of the Year, while her sophomore teammate Alexa Williams was selected as A-10 Player of the Year. The Colonials' first-year coach Chrissy Schoonmaker was selected as Coach of the Year.

Schutter leads the conference and ranks 44th nationally with a .411 average and hit at .544 in conference only games. She ranks second in the conference with 20 stolen bases and 46th nationally with 0.51 stolen bases/game. The center fielder leads the team and ranks 4th in the A-10 with 53 hits and also paces the team with 19 multi-hit games including a career-high four hits against Massachusetts on May 1. She put together the team's longest hitting streak of the season at 18 games and is one of only two Flyers to have started all 41 games. The three-time A-10 Rookie of the Week was also named to the 2022 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year award top-25 list.

Gressly, Gumm, Schutter and Weekley were all honored on the First Team while Cacini was voted to the Second Team. Gumm and Weekley also claimed All-Academic Team honors and Schutter earned mentioned on the All-Rookie Team.

The Atlantic 10 announced the four major awards along with the All-Conference, All-Rookie and All-Academic teams ahead of the start of the 2022 A-10 Softball Championship, which begins Wednesday at George Mason Softball Complex in Fairfax, Va. The major awards, All-Conference Teams and All-Rookie Team were voted on by the A-10's head softball coaches. The All-Academic team was selected by the softball media relations directors.

The fifth-seeded Flyers will take on the fourth-seeded Billikens of Saint Louis in the opening game of the tournament on Wednesday, May 11. First pitch between UD and SLU is slated for 12 p.m. at George Mason Softball Complex. This is the program's ninth-consecutive and 13th overall appearance in the Atlantic 10 Championship.