Courtesy: Big12Sports.com
As the 2014 Big 12 softball regular season comes to a close, the league office has announced the winners of this year’s postseason honors. Texas took home two yearly awards as Taylor Thom was named the Player of the Year and Tiarra Davis nabbed the Freshman of the Year distinction. Baylor’s Whitney Canion earned Pitcher of the Year accolades. Oklahoma’s Patty Gasso was named Coach of the Year for the seventh time.
Thom became the second Longhorn to earn the Player of the Year award. The senior hit .417, drove in 14 runs and had a .729 slugging percentage in conference play this season. The Cedar Park, Texas, native is UT’s all-time career RBI leader.
Davis becomes the first Texas student-athlete to be named Freshman of the Year since Thom earned the honor in 2011. The pitcher ranked third in conference ERA at 2.01. Davis struck out 57 batters in her debut conference season.
Canion earns her second postseason award after garnering Freshman of the Year honors in 2009. She led the conference in ERA (1.36), earned 10 conference victories, struck out 85 batters and pitched 77.1 innings in conference play. Canion will look to lead the Lady Bears to a fourth-straight NCAA Championship appearance as their postseason begins Friday against Northwestern State.
In her 20th year leading the Sooner program, Gasso received her third-consecutive Coach of the Year honor. Her seven accolades overall are the most by any league coach. She led the Sooners to their 11th overall Big 12 crown this season and third-straight regular season title. Oklahoma begins play in this weekend’s NCAA Regional as the No. 7 overall seed in the tournament.
Along with the yearly awards, the All-Big 12 Teams were announced. Oklahoma nabbed the most honorees of any institution as 11 Sooners were named to the first, second and defensive teams. Texas was next with eight selections, while Baylor tallied six. Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech each had three student-athletes selected to the teams. Kansas rounded out the honorees with two representatives.
All-Big 12 teams and postseason honors are selected in a vote by the league’s head coaches, who are not allowed to vote for their own players.
Coach of the Year
Patty Gasso, Oklahoma
Player of the Year
Taylor Thom, Texas, INF
Pitcher of the Year
Whitney Canion, Baylor, LHP
Freshman of the Year
Tiarra Davis, Texas, P/DP
All-Big 12 First Team
Whitney Canion, Baylor, Sr., P
Kaitlyn Thumann, Baylor, Jr., OF
Georgia Casey, Oklahoma, Jr., INF/P
Shelby Pendley, Oklahoma, Jr., INF/P
Kady Self, Oklahoma, So., OF
Kelsey Stevens, Oklahoma, So., P
Brittany Williams, Oklahoma, Sr., OF/INF
Shelby Davis, Oklahoma State, Jr., OF
Tiarra Davis, Texas, Fr., P
Mandy Ogle, Texas, Sr., C
Taylor Thom, Texas, Sr., INF
Sydni Emanuel, Texas Tech, Fr., OF
All-Big 12 Second Team
Linsey Hays, Baylor, So.., DP/OF
Clare Hosack, Baylor, Sr., C
Jordan Strickland, Baylor, Jr., INF
Brittany Gomez, Iowa State, So., OF
Sarah Hawryluk, Iowa State, Sr., OF
Chaley Brickey, Kansas, So., INF
Whitney Ellis, Oklahoma, So., C
Simone Freeman, Oklahoma State, Sr., P
Devon Tunning, Texas, Fr., INF
Brejae Washington, Texas, Sr., OF
Gretchen Aucoin, Texas Tech, So., RHP/INF
Cassie McClure, Texas Tech, Fr., INF/RHP
All-Big 12 Defensive Team
Jorden Spendlove, Iowa State, Jr., 1B
Maddie Stein, Kansas, Jr., 1B
Brittany Williams, Oklahoma, Sr.,1B
Georgia Casey, Oklahoma, Jr., 2B
Taylor Thom, Texas, Sr., SS
Shelby Pendley, Oklahoma, Sr., 3B
Destinee Martinez, Oklahoma, Sr., OF
Shelby Davis, Oklahoma State, Jr., OF
Brejae Washington, Texas, Sr., OF
Clare Hosack, Baylor, Sr., C
Mandy Ogle, Texas, Sr., C
Kelsey Stevens, Oklahoma, So., P
