Seven players from Nansemond River High School’s softball team made the all-conference first team, including Lady Warriors junior infielder KateLynn Hodgkiss, who was also named the Ironclad Conference Player of the Year.

NR coach Gabe Rogers repeated as the conference Coach of the Year.

The voting for Player of the Year was close between Hodgkiss and King’s Fork High School pitcher Sydney Wash, both of whom had excellent seasons.

“Obviously, when you’re fortunate enough to win that award over a player like Sydney Wash, it truly means that you’ve earned it because you know that Sydney’s a strong competitor and just a fantastic player in her own right,” Rogers said.

Shortly before the award was announced, Hodgkiss had heard that Wash did not win it, but she figured this meant that the award would go to her Nansemond River teammate Kelly Lafferty, who emerged as a standout this year.

When Hodgkiss’ name was called out, “I was a little confused for a second,” she said. “I was definitely shocked, but I was very proud of myself.”

“I was extremely happy for her,” Rogers said. This season, “it was nice seeing the evolution of her as a player.”

He said Hodgkiss was athletic and talented starting as a freshman, but this year she became more of a student of the game.

“This past year she really stepped up being a strong leader by example,” he said.

After making the all-conference, all-region and all-state first teams last year, she maintained this year the level of play implied by those accolades.

Across 14 games in the regular season, she had a .476 batting average, a .622 on-base percentage and only one strikeout.

“Those are the things that really contributed to her having a successful season,” Rogers said.

She had 20 hits and can make teams pay with her bunt singles because of her speed but also has the ability to swing away.

The Lady Warriors went 19-3 this season, going undefeated against conference opponents in the regular season and winning the conference tournament, leading to Rogers’ second consecutive Coach of the Year honor.

“It’s always really nice to be recognized by your peers,” Rogers said. “Obviously, I’ve been very blessed to be able to have the players that we have.”

Further deflecting the praise, he said the award is “a recognition of our coaching staff and what we do as a unit,” referring to Dave Glover, Mike Lowers and James Vann.

Along with Hodgkiss, Nansemond River players making the all-conference first team included junior infielder Jaclyn Mounie, senior outfielder Morgan Lowers, sophomore outfielder Kelly Lafferty, junior pitcher Lauren Maddrey, junior catcher Calah Savage and freshman utility player Ashlyn Rogers.

King’s Fork players making the first team included junior infielder Kay’Lee Justice, senior infielder Jasmine Holloman and senior pitcher Sydney Wash.

Lakeland High School players making the first team included junior infielder Tori Abel, freshman outfielder Brittney Strickland, sophomore outfielder Deleah Scott and junior catcher Stasha Waterfield.

The Lady Warriors selected to the all-conference second team were junior infielder Madison McGrath, senior infielder Emily Carson, junior outfielder Lauren Davis, sophomore outfielder Katelyn Biando and sophomore pitcher Madison Rhoads.

The Lady Bulldogs selected to the second team were freshman infielder Madison Froemel, senior infielder Kirsten Wuchter, sophomore outfielder Mallory Moore and sophomore catcher Lauryn Bailey.

Freshman pitcher Sara Matthews made the second team for the Lady Cavaliers.