Five Polar Bears named
All-Central Region in Softball

Liz Decima

Mandi Fought

Tina Mangola

By Tim Glon

ADA — Five Ohio Northern players were named to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division III All-Central Region team in softball for 2008 in voting conducted by the National Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association.

Sophomores Liz Decima (Freedom, Pa./Ambridge), Mandi Fought (Toledo/Whitmer) and Tina Mangola (Cranberry Township, Pa.) were all First Team honorees, while junior Danielle Goubeaux (Coldwater) and sophomore Cortney Cash (Chicago Heights, Ill/Marian Catholic) were named to the Second Team.

Decima, Fought and Mangola will all now be on the All-America ballot.

All five players were First Team All-Ohio Athletic Conference honorees this season.

Decima led the Polar Bears in batting with a .455 average and 60 hits while starting all 41 games at shortstop.

She also had five home runs, 36 RBI, 13 doubles, 36 runs scored and 10 stolen bases.

In her career, she is tied for the ONU record with 28 doubles, ranks sixth with six home runs and ranks 16th with 110 hits.

She was also named to the All-OAC Tournament Team.

Fought, a two-year starter in center field, was also named Third Team All-Region as a freshman in 2007.

She is a two-time All-OAC honoree after earning First Team All-OAC honors this year and Second Team All-OAC honors last year.

She set ONU’s single season and career stolen base records this year, swiping 33 in 38 attempts. She has 55 stolen bases in her two seasons as a Polar Bear, five more than the previous mark of 50 set by Mica Luther from 2001-04 and Ann Ringler from 93-96.

Fought hit .410 this season with three home runs, 30 RBI and 49 runs scored, starting all 41 games in center field.

She will enter her junior year ranked sixth all-time at ONU with 99 runs, fifth with 11 triples and 16th with 111 career hits.

Mangola is a repeat First Team All-Region selection and is ONU’s all-time career home run record leader with 20 as a two-year starter in right field.

She was named Third Team All-America a year ago, and is a two-time First Team All-OAC honoree.

She followed up her triple-crown freshman season in 2007 (.489 BA, 12 HR, 49 RBI) with another outstanding season in 2008.

This year, she hit .448 with team-highs of 10 home runs, 43 RBI, a school-record 16 doubles, five triples and 51 runs scored. She also was a perfect 13-for-13 in stolen bases.

After her first two seasons, Mangola is tied for the ONU career record with 110 runs scored, ranks seventh all-time at ONU with 128 base hits, is third with 27 doubles, is ninth with eight triples, is fourth with 92 RBI and is tenth with 26 stolen bases.

She was also named to the All-OAC Tournament Team.

Goubeaux is making her first appearance on the All-Region team and finished third on the squad with a .442 batting average while starting 40 games in left field.

She also was second on the team with five home runs and had 21 RBI, six doubles and scored 29 runs.

Cash is making her first appearance on the All-Region team and hit .305 with a home run, 32 RBI, 11 doubles and 26 runs scored this spring.

She split time at third base and as a pitcher, where she was 12-6 with a team-low 2.58 ERA in 24 appearances.

Cash is a two-time All-OAC pick, earning Second Team honors as a freshman in 2007. In two seasons, Cash has 79 hits, six home runs and 64 RBI at the plate and is 16-8 with a 3.52 ERA on the mound.

The Polar Bears finished the 2008 season with a 28-13 record and finished tied for second in the OAC with a 14-4 league record.