SAN BRUNO, Calif. – Brigham Young senior outfielder Lexi Tarrow becomes the fifth-consecutive Cougar to be named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year to highlight the 2019 All-WCC softball awards announced by the conference office Tuesday.
 
All five major awards - along with the All-West Coast Conference Teams - were voted on by the league's six head coaches. A total of 24 student-athletes make up the first and second teams, including eight infielders by position, seven outfielders, four catchers, four pitchers and one multi-position student-athlete.
 
Tarrow is one of three Cougars to claim a major award alongside Pitcher of the Year Arissa Paulson, who also earns the fifth-consecutive pitcher award for BYU, and Defensive Player of the Year Erin Miklus. Pacific’s Jessica Mabrey is the Freshman of the Year while LMU head coach Sami Strinz-Ward earns back-to-back Coach of the Year honors.
 
Tarrow is the fifth straight Cougar to earn the WCC’s top honor after teammate Rylee Jensen was selected last year, Caitlyn Larsen Alldredge in 2017, Ashley Thompson in 2016 and Gordy Bravo in 2015. In league contests, Tarrow led the conference in batting average (.488), on-base percentage (.511), slugging percentage (.721), total bases (36) and triples (2) en route to claiming the conference’s top honor. Additionally, the senior outfielder finished second in hits (21) and third in runs scored (12) for the championship team.
 
Paulson makes it five consecutive seasons that a BYU Cougar has also won the Pitcher of the Year honor after teammate Kerisa Viramontes was honored last season followed by a three-year stretch of awards from McKenna Bull from 2015-17. The sophomore Paulson was the league-leader in conference games with seven wins, 41 strikeouts, a .198 opponents batting average and two shutouts, while her 1.51 ERA was tops for all starters in the conference.
 
Miklus earns Defensive Player of the Year honors after a league season in which she posted a perfect 1.000 field percentage with 15 putouts and 18 assists on zero errors at second base. Additionally, Miklus turned one double play ball for the Cougars.
 
Mabrey becomes the second Tiger in program history to be named the WCC Freshman of the Year after a season that saw her lead all freshman with a .333 batting average and two home runs. Mabrey, who joins teammate Hailey Reed (2017) as Pacific’s Freshman of the Year honorees, added 13 hits with seven RBI and eight runs in her debut season.
 
Strinz-Ward is named the WCC Coach of the Year for the second-consecutive season and the third time in four years after leading the Lions to a 35-18 (11-4 WCC) record and battling BYU for the WCC championship all the way into the final series of the season. Strinz-Ward matched her LMU record for most conference wins in WCC history with 11 victories, and LMU’s 35 regular season wins are the most for the program since the 2008 team won 38 games.
 
A complete list of All-WCC performers and major postseason award winners can be found below.
 
2019 West Coast Conference Softball Individual Honors
Player of the Year – Lexi Tarrow, BYU
Pitcher of the Year – Arissa Paulson, BYU
Defensive Player of the Year – Erin Miklus, BYU
Freshman of the Year – Jessica Mabrey, Pacific
Coach of the Year – Sami Strinz-Ward, Loyola Marymount
 
All-West Coast Conference Softball First Team
NAME                          YR       POS     SCHOOL         
Hannah Bandimere       Sr.        P          LMU
Kelsie Barnard              Sr.        3B        Santa Clara
Marissa Chavez            Soph.   SS        Brigham Young
Andrea Gonzalez          Soph.   3B        LMU
Molly Grumbo               Soph.   OF       LMU
Rylee Jensen                Jr.        OF       Brigham Young
Autumn Moffat              Soph.   P          Brigham Young
Arissa Paulson              Soph.   P          Brigham Young
Hailey Reed                  Jr.        OF/P    Pacific
Hannah Russell             Jr.        C          Santa Clara
Sara Silveyra                Jr.        2B        San Diego
Lexi Tarrow                   Sr.        OF       Brigham Young
 
All-West Coast Conference Softball Second Team
NAME                          YR       POS     SCHOOL
Sophia Bjerk                 Fr.        3B        San Diego
Megan Dedrick              Soph.   SS        LMU
Madison Hopper            Soph.   1B/DP  Pacific
Dylan Linton                 Sr.        OF       Saint Mary’s
Carly Lucchetti              Fr.        OF       Pacific
Jessica Mabrey             Fr.        C/UT    Pacific
Morgan Modesto           Sr.        OF       Santa Clara
Irma Sanchez               Sr.        C          LMU
Libby Sugg                   Sr.        C          Brigham Young
Linnay Wilson               Soph.   P          LMU
Delanie Wisz                 Soph.   1B        LMU
Kimiko Zapanta             Soph.   OF       Saint Mary’s
 
All-West Coast Conference Honorable Mention
Emma Bickford, Santa Clara; Sofia Earle, Saint Mary’s; Bailey Lotz, Saint Mary’s; Eryn McCoy, Saint Mary’s; Desiree Moreno, LMU; Eleni Spirakis, Santa Clara; Taylei Williams, BYU