SENATOBIA – Four members of the #11 Northwest Mississippi Community College softball team were named to the MACCC All-Conference list on Tuesday, with freshmen Ava Claire Rhoden and Meredith Dearman earning First-Team honors and freshman Sela Mancini and sophomore Carleigh Calarco picking up the Honorable Mentions after strong seasons for the Rangers which helped earn the team a bid to the 2026 NJCAA Division II World Series starting on May 19th in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Batting in the leadoff spot all season, Rhoden was an easy call to make with numbers that were comparable to some of the better contact hitters nationally. Her .435 batting average was fifth best in the conference, and her 70 hits were fourth in the conference. She was also 16th this year in runs scored, and her 17 stolen bases were good for a tie for 19th in the conference.
Rhoden was also a strong defender for the Rangers, finishing the season with only six errors at second base while playing in 46 games, and fielding 133 chances. She helped turn six double plays and had 67 putouts and 60 assists through the season, showing her versatility.
"Ava has had a wonderful year, hitting over .500 in conference, which is phenomenal for a freshman, and she has only had two strikeouts all year," Head Coach Chelsea Bramlett said. "She has been our little spark plug from the very beginning and really came out of her shell at second base, and I think she is deserving of everything she is going to get. She is one of the hardest workers on the team, and she's awesome."
Joining her as a freshman on the First Team was Meredith Dearman, who was the ace of the Rangers staff this season, appearing in 34 games, starting 20, and picking up a 19-7 win/loss record. Dearman finished the year in the circle with 17 complete games and a 3.02 ERA through 155.1 innings. She also struck out 167, which is the third most all-time for Northwest and second for freshman all-time.
"Meredith has just held us down in the circle all season long," Bramlett said. "She has freshman and even career records already here at Northwest after coming in and being a steady force. For a freshman, she's been absolutely dominant."
Her 19 wins are fifth all-time for a single season, and the same goes for her innings pitched this season. Conference-wise, her 19 wins are also tied for second in the MACCC, and her 155.1 innings are the second most, just five off the top spot.
Mancini joins the duo as an honorable mention after she saw her season take off at the midway point, finishing with a .349 batting average, six home runs, 14 extra-base hits, and 28 RBIs in 41 games.
The best games of the season for Mancini came late, hitting four of her six homers in April and May, including a pair in the Region 23 Tournament, and she had 19 hits and 19 RBIs in that span as well.
"Sela had never played outfield before," Bramlett said. "We know she could play first base, but with the way things shifted around, we asked her about playing in the outfield, and she was like, 'teach me', so she started a little slow, but as soon as that confidence came up, she started hitting the ball really well and doing well in the outfield. She's just gotten better and better in the outfield and has held down our five/six hole all year."
The lone sophomore to make the list for the Rangers was Calarco, and the shortstop for the Rangers was another who really came to life late in the season, finishing the year with a .340 batting average, four home runs, eleven extra-base hits, and 34 RBIs, which was second on the team. At one point through March and April, Calarco had reached base in 20 of 24 games played.
"Carleigh has worked so hard at shortstop, and she is probably not your typical shortstop," Bramlett said. "But she just works so hard and tries so much. When you have that much heart, sometimes it's amazing how far and how high you can go. She hit way better this year than she did last year, and overall, I think she has had a better year than even she expected."
Region 23 awards are set to be announced later this week, and All-Americans will be announced towards the end of May after the end of the World Series. Follow along with news and information on the Rangers softball team by visiting nwccrangers.com or by following along with Northwest's social media accounts.
