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Dixie State’s Anna Cue named Player of Year; HPU’s Breanne Patton is Pitcher of Year
PHOENIX, AZ – Four different teams claimed the five
major Pacific West Conference softball awards when the 2011 All-PacWest Softball Team was announced live on
Tuesdsay, May 3, during the PacWest Magazine Radio
Show.
Dixie State sophomore 1B Anna Cue (Murrieta Valley, CA/Murrieta Valley) was selected the 2011 PacWest Player of the Year, while Hawai‘i Pacific junior hurler Breanne Patton (Ewa Beach HI/Campbell) was named the PacWest Pitcher of the Year.
The PacWest Newcomer of the Year honor went to Notre Dame de Namur junior OF Janae Reyes (Porterville, CA/Monache) and the Freshman of the Year honor belonged to Grand Canyon rookie 2B Claire Zampini (Phoenix, AZ/Deer Valley).
And for the fifth consecutive season, HPU’s Bryan Nakasone was named the PacWest Coach of the Year.
The head coaches of the Pacific West Conference select the
All-PacWest Softball Team. The team consists of 26 players –
13 First Team choices and 13 Second Team picks – chosen by
position.
Nakasone has dominated the PacWest Coach of the Year honors for Hawai‘i Pacific. He has won three in a row outright after sharing the honor with Howard Okita as Co-Coach of HPU in 2007 and 2008. This year he led the Sea Warriors to a share of the PacWest Championship and the automatic qualifier for the NCAA II Tournament.
Cue, who was named All-PacWest First Team at first base, was one of six All-PacWest selections representing Dixie State – including five First Team choices. She presently leads the PacWest in hitting (.449), runs batted in (53), and in slugging (.839). She ranks sixth in on-base percentage (.476), tied for 10th in base hits (53), and is second in home runs (12) and total bases (99). She is tied for eighth in doubles (10).
Cue, who was All-PacWest Second Team as a freshman in 2010, was
joined on the First Team by four Red Storm teammates – senior
SS Ashley McFarland (Layton, UT/Layton),
sophomore OF Jaelle Judkins (St. George,
UT/Dixie), senior catcher Breanna Egge
(Las Vegas, NV/Centennial) and junior pitcher
Lauren Folta (Erda, UT/Tooele).
McFarland is a repeat All-PacWest selection after being named to the Second Team last year. She is hitting .365 on the season with 44 runs scored, 13 doubles and nine home runs. She has driven in 32 runs and walked 36 times while producing a .509 on-base mark and a .683 slugging percentage. She is second in the PacWest in on-base percentage and runs, ranked fourth in slugging, and leads the league in base on balls.
Judkins has had a terrific campaign for the Red Storm so far. She is hitting .373 with 38 runs scored, 22 RBI and 21 stolen bases. She is eighth in the league in hitting, 10th in runs, fifth in base hits (57) and second in thefts.
Egge became a three-time All-PacWest selection this year after
making the Second Team in 2009 and 2010. She is hitting .361 with
41 runs scored, 53 base hits, nine doubles, eight home runs, 46 RBI
and a .585 slugging mark. She is ninth in slugging, 13th
in hitting, tied for fourth in runs, tied for 10th in
hits, tied for fifth in homers, tied for sixth in total bases (86),
and is third in RBI.
Folta returned to the All-PacWest Team this year after making Second Team pitching honors in 2009 and First Team as the flex also in 2009. Folta is ranked fifth in earned run average (2.16) in the conference this season and owns a 17-7 overall mark. She has 15 complete games and two shutouts in 26 appearances and 20 starts. She has struck out 64 in 136.1 innings of action.
Junior 3B Kelsey Mendenhall (Tooele, UT/Tooele) earned All-PacWest honors for the third straight season, this time as a Second Team choice. She claimed First Team honors in 2010 and was a Second Team selection at first base in 2009.
Mendenhall is batting .364 in 45 starts this year for the Red
Storm. She has 44 base hits, 41 runs scored, 41 RBI, 11 homers and
11 doubles to go along with a .727 slugging mark and a .503 on-base
rate. She also has walked 31 times.
As the Red Storm prepares for the post-season, Mendenall is ranked 12th in hitting, third in slugging, third in on-base percentage, tied for fourth in runs scored, ranked third in homers, tied for sixth in total bases (86), and ranked third in walks (31) in the PacWest.
As the PacWest Pitcher of the Year and First Team selection, Patton is trying to lead HPU back to the proverbial Promised Land the Sea Warriors found as NCAA II National Champions in 2010. She leads the PacWest with her 1.29 ERA, 23 victories, 11 shutouts, 162.2 innings pitched and 23 complete games. She is second in strikeouts with 123, boasts a 23-2 record, and has yielded the lowest opponent batting average among PacWest hurlers so far in 2011 (.197).
HPU senior Kozy Toriano (Hilo, HI/Kamehameha-Big
Island) joined Patton on the All-PacWest squad, again
making the team at more than one position. For the third straight
year, Toriano has been selected as a utility player on the
All-PacWest squad. She was named to the Second Team this year
– something she earned in 2009 as well. Last season she was
named to the First Team.
Toriano also made All-PacWest First Team as an outfielder this season, showing her versatility on the softball diamond. In 2009 she was named All-PacWest First Team as a catcher.
In 47 starts, Toriano hit .374 with 51 base hits, 43 runs, 12 doubles, 24 RBI, 17 walks and 16 stolen bases. She is presently third in the league in runs, tied for fourth in doubles, and is seventh in stolen bases.
HPU junior DP Maile Kim (Salinas, CA/Notre Dame) earned her third straight All-PacWest First Team selection as a designated player. The 2009 Newcomer and Freshman of the Year is currently ranked fourth in hitting in the conference with a .396 average, while she is tied for fifth in base hits (57) and tied for fourth with 43 RBI.
Hawai‘i Pacific sophomore Melissa Awa (Kaneohe,
HI/Kamehameha-Kapalama) was named to the All-PacWest
Second Team as the flex for her versatility.
In addition to the Newcomer of the Year honor, NDNU’s Reyes was named All-PacWest Second Team as an outfielder. She was joined on the all-conference squad by NDNU junior 3B Robyn Araujo (Campbell, CA/Westmont), who was First Team, and Argo freshman 2B Alissa Castro (Gilroy, CA/Gilroy), who earned Second Team accolades.
Reyes hit .340 in 54 starts for the Argonauts, producing 66 base hits, 25 RBI and 19 stolen bases. She is third in hits in the league and tied for third in thefts. She leads the PacWest in plate appearances (205) and at-bats (194).
Araujo had a phenomenal year in 2011. She is second in the league in hitting (.432), RBI (51) and slugging (.751), and leads the PacWest in home runs (15), on-base percentage (.510), base hits (73) and total bases (127). She is fourth in walks with 29.
Castro hit .335 this season in 54 games and 52 starts. She posted 56 base hits, 32 runs scored, 14 doubles and 30 RBI. She had a .485 slugging mark and a .414 on-base average. She leads the PacWest in doubles.
Zampini was one of three Grand Canyon players to
earn All-PacWest First Team honors. Senior OF Teddy
Barry (Phoenix, AZ/Greenway) – the 2010 Player
and Newcomer of the Year – repeated as a First Team
selection, while senior utility player Montana Lucas
(Glendale, AZ/Cactus) picked up All-PacWest accolades
for the first time in her career.
Zampini finished the season with a .414 batting average in 47 starts. She had 70 base hits, 46 runs scored, 12 doubles, three triples, 22 RBI, a .538 slugging mark and a .448 on-base average. She is currently third in batting, first in runs scored, second in base hits, fourth in total bases (91), and tied for fourth in doubles in the PacWest.
Lucas hit .331 in 41 starts this season for the Antelopes. She has 47 base hits, 27 runs scored, 10 doubles, seven homers and 43 RBI to go along with a .549 slugging rate. She is tied for fourth in the PacWest in RBI and tied for eighth in doubles.
Hawai‘i Hilo posted a trio of All-PacWest
selections, including junior Amber Waracka (Kaneohe,
HI/Kamehameha) who was named First Team as the flex
player and Second Team as a pitcher. Waracka was an All-PacWest
First Team selection as a pitcher in 2010.
Junior SS Nicole Alconcel (Kahului, HI/HP Baldwin) and junior OF Bryanna Hardy (Simi Valley, CA/Grace Brethren) were named to the Second Team.
Waracka owns a 14-6 overall record on the mound with a 1.85 earned run average. She is third in the league in ERA and in victories, while she also has amassed 80 strikeouts, seven shutouts and 12 complete games in 24 appearances and 21 starts over 125.0 innings of action.
Alconcel is hitting .359 in 2011 with 37 base hits, 25 runs scored, six doubles and 19 RBI. She stole 11 bases and walked 18 times while producing a .469 on-base mark and a .476 slugging percentage. She is 10th in the PacWest in on-base percentage.
Hardy is batting .369 in 42 starts with 45 base hits, 20 runs, 13
RBI and 23 walks. She is fourth in the league in on-base percentage
with a .480 mark.
Academy of Art produced a quartet of All-PacWest Second Team selections, including senior Alana Aweau (Fairfield, CA/Armijo) who claimed the accolade at first base and as the designated player.
Freshman OF Elyse Cordova (Tulare, CA/Tulare Union), sophomore catcher Jayme Stewart (Shingle Springs, CA/Ponderosa) and junior pitcher Sierrah Garcia (Los Banos, CA/Los Banos) – a Second Team pick last year – all landed on the All-PacWest squad.
Aweau batted .378 this season with 56 hits, 35 runs, seven
doubles, seven homers, 28 RBI, 25 walks, a .568 slugging rate and a
.477 on-base mark. In the PacWest, she is seventh in hitting,
10th in slugging, fifth in on-base average, fifth in
walks, tied for ninth in hits, and tied for eighth in home
runs.
Cordova hit .393 this season and is fifth in batting average. She has registered 66 base hits, 40 runs scored, six doubles, 22 RBI, 18 stolen bases, a .421 on-base mark and a .488 slugging rate – all in 49 starts. In the PacWest, she is ranked sixth in runs scored and tied for third in base hits.
Stewart batted .345 in 46 games and 45 starts this year. She posted 48 base hits, 23 runs scored, 13 doubles, eight homers and 40 RBI – all with a .612 slugging mark and a .429 on-base average. She is ranked sixth in slugging and tied for fifth in homers in the PacWest.
Garcia leads the PacWest in strikeouts with 141 in 149.1 innings of action. She owns a 13-11 record with a 2.25 earned run average in 31 appearances and 19 starts. She has tossed 12 complete games, including two shutouts.
