IRVING, Texas – League champion Wichita State was well represented with four major award winners and eight all-conference selections as part of the 2023 American Athletic Conference softball regular-season awards. The conference unveiled its major award winners, all-conference teams and all-rookie team on Wednesday, as voted on by the league's seven head coaches.
Wichita State's Sydney McKinney became the third straight Shocker to be named American Player of the Year, while UCF's Sarah Willis was unanimously voted as the American Pitcher of the Year. A pair of freshmen were named Defensive Players of the Year in South Florida's Kathy Garcia-Soto and Wichita State's Sami Hood, while the Shockers also took home Freshman of the Year honors with pitcher Alex Aguilar. Kristi Bredbenner and the staff of top-seeded Wichita State was named the unanimous American Coaching Staff of the Year.
A total of 28 players representing six member institutions earned all-conference honors. An additional seven choices were made for the league's all-rookie squad. Wichita State and UCF led all teams with eight total players chosen to the first and second all-conference teams. The Knights led with five first team selections, while the Shockers had four selections on the first team. Houston, South Florida and Tulsa each had a pair of first team selections. UCF's Sarah Willis, Houston teammates Turiya Coleman and Bree Cantu, and Wichita State's Sydney McKinney were all unanimous selections.
McKinney claimed her second Player of the Year honors in three seasons, helping the Shockers to a first-place finish in The American and their highest rankings in program history. McKinney has been dominant at the plate for the Shockers this season, leading The American in league play in batting average (.477), hits (31) and runs scored (30), while ranking third in on-base percentage (.527). She currently leads all of NCAA Division I in batting average on the season (.527) and is second across all divisions. McKinney had 12 multi-hit games in conference play and scored at least one run in 15 of the 18 conference games.
Willis was nearly untouchable for the Knights in conference play, leading UCF with an 8-0 record and paced the conference with a 0.79 ERA in 62.0 innings pitched over 12 appearances (11 starts). She held opposing batters to a conference-low .143 batting average, striking out 44 batters in conference play. Willis was the lone pitcher in the conference to finish with an ERA sub 1.00 in conference games. Her signature moment came on April 28 against Houston as the tossed the first seven-inning perfect game in UCF history and just the fifth in American Athletic Conference history.
South Florida's Garcia-Soto and Wichita State's Hood made the transition to college flawlessly, becoming the first freshmen to win American Defensive Player of the Year. Garcia-Soto shined at shortstop for South Florida, starting all 17 games for the Bulls. In 62 chances in the field during league play, Garcia-Soto posted a .968 fielding percentage, logging 28 putouts to go along with 32 assists. South Florida turned three doubles plays during the conference season, with Garcia-Soto contributing to two. Hood started all 18 conference games for the Shockers at second base. In 65 chances, Hood posted a .969 fielding percentage in conference play, logging 32 putouts and 31 assists. Hood was a part of four of the five double plays turned during league play.
Aguilar stepped in the circle to become the ace for the Shockers during her freshman campaign, logging a 1.54 ERA across 50.0 innings pitched in conference action. She tied for the conference lead with an 8-0 record in 12 appearances (7 starts). Aguilar threw three complete games, all resulting in shutout wins. She struck out 25 batters while walking just seven. Aguilar helped the Shockers pick up their highest road win in program history, defeating No. 3 Oklahoma State in Stillwater where the freshman allowed just one run across 8.0 innings.
Bredbenner and her staff guided Wichita State to the program's second conference regular-season championship in three years (2021, 2023), posting a 16-2 (.889) league mark. The 16 wins tied the 2015 and 2022 UCF teams for the most wins in an 18-game league schedule by any American team since the conference was reconstituted in 2014. The Shockers were dominant offensively under Bredbenner, leading all league teams in batting average (.333), slugging percentage (.570), on-base percentage (.436), runs scored (138), hits (166), RBI (129), doubles (30), triples (8), home runs (24), total bases (284) and walks (84).
2023 American Athletic Conference Softball Regular-Season Awards
Player of the Year
Sydney McKinney, Wichita State
Pitcher of the Year
Sarah Willis, Jr., UCF*
Defensive Players of the Year
Kathy Garcia-Soto, South Florida
Sami Hood, Wichita State
Rookie of the Year
Alex Aguilar, Wichita State*
Coaching Staff of the Year
Wichita State*
All-Conference First Team
P – Sarah Willis, UCF*
P – Gabriella Nori, South Florida
C – Jada Cody, UCF
1B – Zoe Jones, Wichita State
1B – Shannon Doherty, UCF
2B – Micaela Macario, UCF
3B – Turiya Coleman, Houston*
SS – Sydney McKinney, Wichita State*
SS – Imani Edwards, Tulsa
OF – Kennedy Searcy, UCF
OF – Haley Morgan, Tulsa
OF – Addison Barnard, Wichita State
OF – Lauren Lucas, Wichita State
DP/U/P – Vivian Ponn, South Florida
DP/U/Non-P – Bree Cantu, Houston*
All-Conference Second Team
P – Alex Aguilar, Wichita State
P – Lauren Howell, Wichita State
C – Lainee Brown, Wichita State
IF – Jasmine Williams, UCF
IF – Kathy Garcia-Soto, South Florida
IF – Marissa Trivelpiece, South Florida
IF – Sami Hood, Wichita State
OF – Chloe Evans, UCF
OF – Taylor Edwards, East Carolina
OF – Jordyn Kadlub, South Florida
OF – MacKenzie Denson, Tulsa
DP/U – Aubrey Evans, UCF
DP/U – Kylee Nash, Tulsa
All-Rookie Team
P - Alex Aguilar, Wichita State*
2B - Sami Hood, Wichita State
3B - Mackenzie Kila, East Carolina
SS - Kathy Garcia-Soto, South Florida
OF - Neely Taylor, Memphis
OF - Taylor Sedlacek, Wichita State
DP/U - Aubrey Evans, UCF
* denotes unanimous selection