Softball | February 08, 2016

SEASIDE, Calif. — Junior first baseman Madison Casto (Sunnyvale/Homestead HS) added another feather to what is becoming a crowded cap by claiming a first team spot on the Hero Sports Preseason All–America team Monday. Casto, a returning All–American from 2015, already earned a spot on the NFCA's Schutt Sports Player of the Year Watch List for 2016.

She was one of three West Region players selected to the first team and the only CCAA player named to either team.

Casto is a 2–time first team All–CCAA pick and a 2–time All–West Region honoree. She is coming off a season in which she hit .444—the second highest batting average in CSUMB history—to raise her career march to an Otter best .421. She led the Otters with eight home runs and 21 doubles as a sophomore and made just two errors in 468 chances (.998) in the field.

Casto is off to a solid start this season with a .389 average and a .577 on base percentage through seven games. She has two doubles, a triple and a homer among her seven hits.

CSUMB (5–2 overall) enters the week ranked No. 25 in the latest NFCA NCAA Division II Top 25. The Otters open conference play with a rematch of last season's CCAA Championship showdown when No. 13 Humboldt State (5–1–1) visits the Otter Sports Complex to open the 2016 CCAA schedule.