Forbes Honored on 2021 Preseason All-ACC Softball Team
1/28/2021 4:05:00 PM | Softball
GREENSBORO, N.C. – A day after becoming the first NC State player in program history to be named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List, Wolfpack graduate student, Tatyana Forbes, was announced as a member of the 2021 Preseason All-ACC Softball Team, Thursday afternoon by the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The ACC only began sponsoring a Preseason All-ACC softball team in 2019, making Forbes the first NC State player to receive the accolade. The 2021 Preseason All-ACC softball team is made up of 14 players from seven schools.
Forbes made a name for herself in the shortened 2020 season, ranking second nationally in hits (43), fifth in batting average (.538) and eighth in on-base percentage (.593). Forbes led the Atlantic Coast Conference in all three categories in addition to ranking fifth in the ACC in stolen bases per game (0.56). She enters her final season as the NCAA Division 1 career batting average leader, with a career batting average of .463. She also ranks eighth among all active players in stolen base percentage (.918).
In 2020, she started all 25 games for the Wolfpack in right field where she recorded a 10-game hit streak and 17-game on-base streak, tied for the fifth-longest hit streak in program history. She concluded the season ranked No. 97 in the SoftballAmerica Shortened Season Top-100 Players List.
The Redmond, Wash. native is a member of Team Mexico and helped Mexico qualify a softball team to the Olympic Games for the first time. She became the first NC State softball player to be named to an Olympic roster over the summer, and is slated to take part in the postponed Tokyo 2020 games later this year.
The 2021 ACC Softball Preseason Coaches Poll was also released Thursday. Reigning ACC Champions, Florida State, were selected as preseason favorites. NC State was picked to finish eighth. While the 2020 season was not completed, Patrick-Swift has exceeded expectations each year at the helm of the program. In her first season, the Wolfpack finished 8th after being picked 11th preseason. NC State was riding a seven game win streak, which included a 3-0 conference sweep against Notre Dame, prior to the 2020 season being cut short.
Forbes and the NC State softball team are slated to kick off the 2021 season, Feb. 13 against Longwood.
2021 Preseason All-ACC Softball Team
Hannah Goodwin, Clemson, Fr., IF
DJ Davis, Duke, Sr., IF
Sydney Sherrill, Florida State, Jr., IF
Katie Marino, Notre Dame, Gr., IF
Kelsey Bennett, Virginia Tech, So., IF
Marissa Guimbarda, Clemson, Jr., OF
Dani Morgan, Florida State, Sr., OF
Taty Forbes, NC State, Sr., OF
Jayme Bailey, Virginia Tech, So., OF
Caylan Arnold, Florida State, Sr., P
Brittany Pickett, North Carolina, Sr., P
Keely Rochard, Virginia Tech, Jr., P
Anna Shelnutt, Florida State, Sr., C
Valerie Cagle, Clemson, Fr., UT
2021 ACC Softball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Florida State (141 points, nine first-place votes)
2. Virginia Tech (136 points, four first-place votes)
3. Notre Dame (114 points)
4. Duke (99 points)
5. North Carolina (96 points)
6. Clemson (88 points)
7. Louisville (81 points)
8. NC State (78 points)
9. Georgia Tech (61 points)
10. Syracuse (39 points)
11. Pitt (31 points)
12. Virginia (28 points)
13. Boston College (22 points)
