Four Buckeyes Earn NFCA All-Region Honors
5/18/2024 12:11:00 PM | Softball
Cortelletti named to the second team; Burns, Smith and Kortokrax are third-team honorees
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State was well-represented on Thursday when the National Fastpitch Coaches Association released its all-region teams. The Buckeyes, who are in the Midwest Region, had four honorees, including one second teamer and three on the third team.
Ohio State's all-region selections were Tegan Cortelletti (second team), pitcher Allison Smith (third team), catcher/designated player Jasmyn Burns (third team) and shortstop Kami Kortokrax (third team). It is the first career honor for Smith, Burns and Cortelletti and the second for Kortokrax.
The Buckeyes have produced four or more all-region players four times in the last six years. The Midwest Region includes seven Big Ten schools, three from the Big XII, five from the Horizon League, six from the Missouri Valley Conference, five from the Ohio Valley Conference and four from the Summit League.
A fifth-year senior, Corteletti had the best season of her career in 2024 as she led the team in batting average (.397), hits (61), runs scored (37), on-base percentage (.451) and stolen bases (15). She reached base in 24 consecutive games between Feb. 9 and March 27, which was the longest streak on the team this year and among the longest nationally. During the stretch, she hit .459 with 13 RBI, seven exta base hits and had a .534 on-base percentage.
Cortelletti, who is from Hilliard, finished her Ohio State career as a veteran of 180 career games with 118 starts. Her .332 career batting average is among the top 20 in program history and in a 12-6 win over Kentucky on March 17 she recorded her 100th career hit. She was also Ohio State's active career leader in stolen bases (52).
A native of Champion, Ohio, Smith leaves Ohio State with her name listed prominently in the record books. She ranks fifth in career wins (56), fifth in strikeouts (543) and seventh in innings pitched (545.1). This season, she went 18-10 with a 2.53 earned run average and last week earned second team All-Big Ten honors.
In the latter half of the season, Smith was at her best. Over her last six starts, she went 6-1 with four complete games, one shutout and had a 2.15 earned run average over 55.1 innings. On the final day of the regular season, she pitched the Buckeyes to a 2-1 series-clinching win over Michigan with a complete game two-hitter. Her 137 strikeouts this season were the ninth-most among Big Ten pitchers and her 2.53 ERA ranked seventh.
Burns started all 51 games this season and as a freshman and drove in 37 runs, which was tied for the second-most on the team. A two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week, Burns batted .298 with nine home runs, six doubles and a .503 slugging percentage. Her RBI total was the most among freshmen in the Big Ten this season and her nine home runs were the most by an Ohio State freshman since Alicia Herron hit 14 in 2009.
A Menifee, Calif. native, Burns got off to a hot start for the Buckeyes last season. Over the first 17 games of the season, she hit .377 and had a team-best .717 slugging percentage that included five home runs and three doubles. In just her third collegiate game, she drove in five runs and hit a grand slam in a 13-0 five-inning victory over Southeast Missouri State.
Kortokrax, who last week earned first team All-Big Ten honors, was Ohio State's home run and RBI leader in 2024. She finished her junior campaign with a .318 batting average, 42 RBI, 12 home runs, 12 doubles and a .637 slugging percentage.
Two of her 12 home runs were game-changing grand slams, too. She broke a 6-6 tie at Kentucky on March 17 with a sixth-inning grand slam and also gave Ohio State a 4-0 lead against Northwestern on March 31 with a fifth-inning grand slam in a game it would go on to win 6-0. Kortokax was the Big Ten Player of the Week on April 22 after hitting two home runs and driving in five runs during a series sweep of Maryland.
The Buckeyes finished their 2024 season with 11 wins in their last 14 games and were 31-20 overall. Ohio State went 5-3 against the four teams in the conference that were selected for the NCAA Tournament and finished the regular season by winning a series at Michigan for the first time in program history.
