Nansemond River High School 2013 graduate and softball player Eryn Haley has been named an Academic All-American at Bluefield College.

The Lady Ram was named to the NCCAA Academic All-American. She was also named the Appalachian Athletic Conference All-Academic team as well with a cumulative GPA of a 3.8 heading into her senior year.

She had a strong performance for Bluefield in the regional tournament through the World Series, batting .556. In Haley’s sophomore year, the team won seven games. It made a 12-game improvement in her junior season, winning 19 games. Haley is also a representative of the Sting travel ball organization.

“It was a good year academically and athletically,” she said. “I persevered and succeeded through more than I thought I would. I was named an Academic All-American for the third year and my postseason batting average was .550. I definitely outperformed what I thought was my fullest potential.”

Back in April, Haley and her team were involved in an unfortunate incident when their 15-passenger van was involved in an accident. It set the team back, but the Lady Rams were later able to go a run that saw the team make the NCCAA World Series.

Haley is excited for what’s to come in her forthcoming senior year.

“I’m thrilled to be able to be back with my team in about a month,” she said. “We have big goals this season.”

Haley’s progress from a freshman to now a senior has shown how far she has come. All she needed to do was settle in so that she could become more productive.

“Coming in as a freshman, everything was so new, and you’re excited to start,” she said. “I just had to make sure I focused on my fundamentals for softball and bore down on my academics. In return, I’ve been seeing success on the field and off with me being a standing Academic All-American.”