LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced the student-athletes chosen for this season’s quartet of NFCA NJCAA Division II major awards.
North Iowa Area Community College’s Katy Olive took home the TUCCI/NFCA NJCAA DII Player of the Year honor, while also collecting the New Balance/NFCA NJCAA DII Golden Shoe Award for the second straight season as the division’s top base stealer.
Courtney Donahue from Des Moines Area Community College was voted the TUCCI/NFCA NJCAA DII Pitcher of the Year, while Louisburg College’s Taylor McQueen was named Diamond Sports/NFCA NJCAA DII Catcher of the Year.
Sophomore Olive batted .472 and was ranked tied for third in NJCAA DII with 27 home runs to go along with 20 doubles, 81 RBI, 92 base hits and 95 runs scored. On the base paths, she led NJCAA DII with 70 stolen bases in 75 attempts. Olive swiped four bases on three separate occasions and registered three steals three times. Olive’s hits, runs scored, RBI and steals are all single-season program records.
Donahue struck out 386 batters, 103 more than the next pitcher in NJCAA DII and posted a 26-4 record with a 0.94 ERA in 186.2 innings of work. She also topped the division in shutouts (12), strikeouts per seven innings (14.48), complete games (25) and WHIP (0.56), while she ranked third in victories (tie) and ERA and fifth in batting average against (.115).
McQueen, the first-team NFCA All-America catcher, keyed the Hurricanes to a NJCAA DII Softball World Series appearance, where they posted a 2-2 record. She batted .357 with 14 doubles, 13 home runs, 50 RBI and 63 runs scored. McQueen walked 31 times and recorded a .459 on-base percentage. Behind the dish, only seven runners attempted to steal all season and she threw out three of those.
The awards are voted on by the elected members of the NFCA NJCAA Division II All-American Committee with two head coaches representing each of the three NJCAA Division II regions. To be eligible, a student-athlete’s head coach must be a member.
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