BY JAMES D. CIMBUREK james.cimburek@yankton.net, Yankton Press and Dakotan

It is not often that the coach of a 6-22 team shares in a league's Coach of the Year honors. Then again, not too many coaches have had a season like Mount Marty softball coach Albert Fernandez.

The 2013 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Softball All-Conference team has been announced after a vote of league coaches.  This year's GPAC All-Conference Team consists of a first-team, second-team, and an honorable mention list.  ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Brooke Sampson from Doane College was named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Player-of-the-Year while Taylor Erlenbusch from Hastings College was named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Pitcher-of-the-Year.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the seeds and brackets for the inaugural NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round. Each of the 10 locations will feature a four-team double-elimination tournament May 13 – 15. 

Hastings is a four seed in the Oklahoma City bracket (Oklahoma City University host) and Morningside is a four seed in the Claremore, Oklahoma, bracket (Rogers State host).