UTC softball player, Sara Poteat, a Freshman from Thomaston, Ga., poses for a portrait at the UTC hitting facility at Warner Park in Chattanooga on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball player Sara Poteat was named to the All-South Region first team by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association on Thursday. The junior second baseman from Thomaston, Ga., led the Southern Conference in 2012 with a .437 batting average and had a team-best 18 stolen bases in 19 attempts.

Poteat also had a .958 fielding percentage on defense for the Lady Mocs, who finished with a 39-16 record in 2012.

Joining Poteat on the NFCA South Region team as second-team selections were senior designated player Michelle Fuzzard and junior first baseman Kasey Tydingco.

Fuzzard - a fifth-year senior from Huntington Beach, Calif., who was named SoCon player of the year for the second consecutive year in 2012 - was named to the South Region second team for the second straight year after finishing the season in the top 20 in NCAA Division I in RBIs (63), slugging percentage (.846) and on-base percentage (.543).

Tydingco of Fairfield, Calif., posted several career highs this season, batting .360 with 17 doubles, three triples, 13 home runs and 62 RBIs, and she also had a .983 fielding percentage with 290 putouts.