White, Haddad, Sowder Claim Top Honors As Big West All-Conference Awards Announced
5/19/2021 12:30:00 PM | Softball
Long Beach State had six players on the 15-member first team.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Big West Champions Long Beach State were well represented in the Big West All-Conference awards announced on Wednesday, taking home three top awards and seeing nine players honored in total along with Kim Sowder.
Sowder was named the Big West Coach of the Year for the fourth time in her career at the Beach after leading LBSU to the title. Long Beach State posted a 22-2 record in Big West play, including a three-game sweep against Cal State Fullerton in the final weekend to seal the ninth Big West title for LBSU. Sowder additionally had to navigate a late start to the season, as LBSU did not have clearance for competition until March 4 and had their first practice of the season on February 15.
Strong pitching played a big part in the championship run for the Beach, led by Kellie White and Shannon Haddad who both took home top honors as well.
Kellie White was named the Big West Pitcher of the Year after an outstanding season, the 13th pitcher from Long Beach State to take home the award. White finished the regular season with an ERA of 1.94 and 1.54 in Big West play, and led the league in conference wins with 14 and was second in conference strikeouts with 85.
Shannon Haddad is the fifth player in school history to be named the Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year, and the first since 2011. Haddad went unbeaten in 11 starts with an 8-0 record in 13 appearance, striking out 64 batters with just 10 walks, and still earned the award despite missing the final three conference series of the year. Haddad also was named to the All-Freshman team.
White and Haddad were both named first-team All-Big West as well, and were joined by four hitters in Alyssa Gonzalez, Naomi Hernandez, Suzy Brookshire and Breezy Wise. Gonzalez was the team's leader in batting average at .418, hit seven home runs, and did not strike out in 24 conference games. Brookshire led the team in RBI and home runs, batting .466 in conference play and slugging .877 against league competition.
Returning to the top of the order, Naomi Hernandez was second in the Big West in walks and On-Base Percentage, reaching base in exactly half of her plate appearances on the year while hitting .400. Finally, Breezy Wise hit .381 with a team-high 10 doubles and five triples to go with five home runs, coming in second on the team in batting average and taking home the final Big West Player of the Week award for her efforts in defeating Cal State Fullerton.
Finally, three other players earned Honorable Mention All-Big West. Lilyanna Martinez was a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen bases on the year and hit .351 as a true freshman. Emily Salazar had a 12-game hitting streak during the year and ended the regular season hitting .303, while catcher Justine Briones caught fire late, starting 13 Big West games and hitting .219 with two home runs and 16 RBI.
As winners of the Big West, Long Beach State earned automatic qualification into the NCAA Regionals and will face No. 2 UCLA in their first game of the Los Angeles Regional at 7:30 p.m. Friday night on ESPN2.
Sowder was named the Big West Coach of the Year for the fourth time in her career at the Beach after leading LBSU to the title. Long Beach State posted a 22-2 record in Big West play, including a three-game sweep against Cal State Fullerton in the final weekend to seal the ninth Big West title for LBSU. Sowder additionally had to navigate a late start to the season, as LBSU did not have clearance for competition until March 4 and had their first practice of the season on February 15.
Strong pitching played a big part in the championship run for the Beach, led by Kellie White and Shannon Haddad who both took home top honors as well.
Kellie White was named the Big West Pitcher of the Year after an outstanding season, the 13th pitcher from Long Beach State to take home the award. White finished the regular season with an ERA of 1.94 and 1.54 in Big West play, and led the league in conference wins with 14 and was second in conference strikeouts with 85.
Shannon Haddad is the fifth player in school history to be named the Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year, and the first since 2011. Haddad went unbeaten in 11 starts with an 8-0 record in 13 appearance, striking out 64 batters with just 10 walks, and still earned the award despite missing the final three conference series of the year. Haddad also was named to the All-Freshman team.
White and Haddad were both named first-team All-Big West as well, and were joined by four hitters in Alyssa Gonzalez, Naomi Hernandez, Suzy Brookshire and Breezy Wise. Gonzalez was the team's leader in batting average at .418, hit seven home runs, and did not strike out in 24 conference games. Brookshire led the team in RBI and home runs, batting .466 in conference play and slugging .877 against league competition.
Returning to the top of the order, Naomi Hernandez was second in the Big West in walks and On-Base Percentage, reaching base in exactly half of her plate appearances on the year while hitting .400. Finally, Breezy Wise hit .381 with a team-high 10 doubles and five triples to go with five home runs, coming in second on the team in batting average and taking home the final Big West Player of the Week award for her efforts in defeating Cal State Fullerton.
Finally, three other players earned Honorable Mention All-Big West. Lilyanna Martinez was a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen bases on the year and hit .351 as a true freshman. Emily Salazar had a 12-game hitting streak during the year and ended the regular season hitting .303, while catcher Justine Briones caught fire late, starting 13 Big West games and hitting .219 with two home runs and 16 RBI.
As winners of the Big West, Long Beach State earned automatic qualification into the NCAA Regionals and will face No. 2 UCLA in their first game of the Los Angeles Regional at 7:30 p.m. Friday night on ESPN2.
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