STEPHENVILLE - Katie Welborn has become the fourth Tarleton TexAnn in school history to be named an NFCA All-American, earning second-team in the latest release by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

"What a tremendous honor for Katie," said Tarleton head coach Julie Mata. "This was obviously a tough team to make and it shows just how outstanding her performance was throughout the season.

"She now joins for TexAnns Jennifer Maupin, Gracie Villa, and Monica Garza in receiving this award and that's a great group of players to join. I'm so very proud of her and excited for her. We've had many years, including this one, when we've had players overlooked and you can't quite see how so it's a very big deal to make it."

Welborn led the TexAnns at the plate this year with a .386 batting average after starting all 51 games.

The senior from North Richland Hills slugged .741 in her final season with the TexAnns while blasting 11 doubles, 15 home runs and driving in 44 runs. She also led the team in walks with 28 and hits with 61.

Welborn led the TexAnns to a 31-win season and their 11th Lone Star Conference tournament appearance in the school's 17-year softball career.

She has also been named first-team all-conference and academic all-conference while earning first-team all-region honors by the NFCA and second-team all-region honors by Daktronics last week.

Tarleton's previous all-americans include Maupin (third-team in 1998), Villa (second-team in 2001) and Garza (first-team in 2004).

For the complete list of NFCA all-americans, click here. For the all-time Tarleton award winners, click here.