LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced the student-athletes chosen for this season’s quartet of NFCA NJCAA Division II major awards.
Jones College’s Makynlie Jones and Murray State College’s Isabella Hardeman were named the NFCA NJCAA Division II Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively.
Additionally, Phoenix College’s Katie Hofmann earned the Diamond Sports/NFCA NJCAA Division II Catcher of the Year and her Bears teammate J’Kaia’ Graves collected the New Balance/NFCA NJCAA Division II Golden Shoe award.
Sophomore outfielder Jones batted .445 with 77 runs, 19 doubles, three triples, 26 homers and a division-leading 103 RBI for the (52-10) Bobcats, who lost to Copiah-Lincoln in the winner-take-all NJCAA Division II national championship game on May 24. Jones’ RBI tied for the third-highest total across all three NJCAA divisions, while her homers ranked second in Division II. She ranked third nationally in at-bats (229) and total bases (205), and seventh in both plate appearances (246) and hits (102).
Hardeman went a perfect 30-0 for the (62-3) Aggies this season, with a 0.35 ERA, 0.59 WHIP, five complete games, four shutouts and 200 strikeouts over 140.2 innings in the circle. The freshman right-hander only allowed nine runs (seven earned) and 18 walks in 34 appearances (11.1 strikeout-to-walk ratio). Hardeman was one of just three pitchers in the NJCAA divisional rankings with an ERA under 1.00, with the other two being Southern Union State Community College’s Makinley Turner (0.73) and NFCA NJCAA Division I Pitcher of the Year Cailyn Heyl (0.94) from Northwest Florida State College.
Sophomore catcher Hofmann made just two errors in 222 chances for Phoenix (54-8). She had only two passed balls, and, of the eight runners who attempted to steal on her, she cut down two. On offense, Hofmann batted .483 with 46 runs, 84 hits, nine doubles, 21 homers, 97 RBI and 44 walks over 61 games.
Graves stole 72 bases (second in NJCAA II and fifth-most across all divisions) for the Bears and was caught just five times in 77 attempts. The freshman third baseman also batted .510 with 86 runs, 10 doubles, four triples and 42 RBI.
Hardeman, Hofmann and Jones were all first-team NFCA All-Americans this season.
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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