Bowling Green State University Athletics
Gina Rango Named To Great Lakes All-Region First Team
May 21, 2004 | Softball
May 21, 2004
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Bowling Green State University softball sophomore Gina Rango has been named to the 2004 Great Lakes All-Region Team. Rango, a third baseman, was selected to the first team for the second consecutive season.
Rango, a native of North Lima, Ohio (Boardman H.S.), is the first player in school history to earn all-region honors twice. Only four times has a Falcon player been named to the all-region first team, and Rango has done so twice. Amy Lienhardt (1988) and Rachelle Highfill (1993) are BGSU's other first-team selections.
Additionally, Rango was one of only three Mid-American Conference players chosen to the team, joining Ohio University outfielder Erin Chapman on the first team. Central Michigan's Amber Puchalski was a second-team all-region selection.
The Great Lakes All-Region Team is the result of voting by head coaches within the region. Rango, as an all-region selection, is now eligible for All-America honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Rango, an All-MAC First-Team pick for the second consecutive spring, was one of just two Falcons to start all 64 games this year, and has started all 117 of BGSU's games in her career. She led the team with a .372 batting average in 2004, and set school single-season records for doubles (18), homers (nine), and runs batted in (42).
Rango also paced the Falcons in hits (74), total bases (121), slugging percentage (.608) and on-base pct. (.429). Just a sophomore, she already owns a share of the BGSU career homerun record, with 14.
The Falcons finished the 2004 season with an overall record of 34-30, and head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw's team won the MAC Tournament crown to advance to the NCAA Region No. 6 Championship. The Brown and Orange qualified for the league tourney for the sixth time in the last seven years, dropped the tournament opener, then won five consecutive games to capture the title. BGSU's season came to an end with Thursday (May 20) losses to Oregon State and UIC in NCAA Regional play.
BGSU's All-Region Selections
First Team Amy Lienhardt, OF, 1988 Rachelle Highfill, 2B, 1993 Gina Rango, 3B, 2003 Gina Rango, 3B, 2004Second Team Vicki Miwa, P, 1987 Becky Bailey, 2B, 1991 Dena Romstadt, 3B, 1992 Jennifer Wolf, P, 1993 Amy Hamilton, 1B/P, 1997
2004 Great Lakes All-Region Softball Teams
First Team Position Player School Pitcher Nicole Motycka Michigan Pitcher Amanda Fortune Illinois Catcher *None nominated First Base Natalie Furrow Michigan State Second Base Tiffany Haas Michigan Third Base Gina Rango Bowling Green Shortstop Jessica Merchant Michigan Outfield Cameron Astiazaran Illinois-Chicago Outfield Erin Chapman Ohio Outfield Meghan Doe Michigan Utility Jessica Beech Michigan State Des. Player Amanda Rivera Illinois-ChicagoSecond Team Position Player School Pitcher Amy Harre Southern Illinois Pitcher Jennie Ritter Michigan Pitcher Amber Puchalski & Central Michigan Pitcher Lindsey LaChiana # Loyola Pitcher Alison Aguilar # Illinois-Chicago Catcher *None nominated First Base Emily Krueger Illinois State Second Base Nycole Koyano Ohio State Third Base Lacey Reichert Youngstown State Shortstop Lindsey Hamma Illinois Outfield Rachelle Coriddi Illinois Outfield LeeAnn Butcher Illinois Outfield Cassandra Hallstrom Western Illinois Utility Jamee Juarez Ohio State Des. Player Dayna Feenstra Michigan State
& Automatic Selection as MAC Pitcher of the Year # Automatic Selection as Horizon League co-Pitcher of the Year
