SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO - After winning its first WCC Softball Championship, Saint Mary's picked up three of the five West Coast Conference major awards as announced by the Conference on Tuesday. The Gaels also landed two players on the All-WCC First Team.
Sam Buckley from Saint Mary's won WCC Freshman of the Year, while her teammate Odhi Vasquez was named WCC Co-Pitcher of the Year and Gaels' head coach Sonja Garnett was voted WCC Coach of the Year.
The remaining two major awards went to LMU and Santa Clara. Jenna Perez of LMU won WCC Co-Pitcher of the Year, winning for the third-straight season. Santa Clara's Hazyl Gray won WCC Player of the Year and Cairah Curran won WCC Defensive Player of the Year.
All of the major individual awards and the all-conference teams were voted on solely by the WCC's head coaches.
Garnett led Saint Mary's to its first WCC Softball Championship in program history. The Gaels earned the automatic qualifier into the NCAA DI Softball Tournament after finishing one game better than LMU in the WCC standings. Back in the tournament for the first time since 2010, SMC will compete in the Stanford Regional this weekend.
One of the WCC's top power hitters in 2024, Gray finished the season second in the WCC in home runs (8) and third in the league in RBI (37). She ended the 2024 season with a .327 batting average and a .536 slugging percentage. Gray helped position the Broncos in contention for a Conference title tied for second heading into the final conference series last weekend.
Vasquez ended the 2024 regular season with the second-lowest opponent batting average at .206 percent and was third in the WCC in ERA (2.47).
Once again one of the most dominant pitchers in the Conference, Perez ranked first in the WCC in strikeouts looking (46). She also topped the WCC in wins with 13.
Curran stole 31 bases, which ranks second in the league in both categories. SCU finished the season ranked 13th in the NCAA in total stolen bases and 14th in the nation in stolen bases per game (1.92).
In her first year at Saint Mary's, Buckley led the WCC on-base percentage (50.6%) and ranks 25th in the country. She also led the Conference in triples with seven on the year, which is tied for fourth in the nation. Her 37 RBI ranked third. Buckley was second in the league in slugging percentage (65.5%), third in runs scored (35), and fourth in RBI (35).
LMU landed the most All-WCC first team honorees with four, while the rest of the league each had a pair make the first team all-conference roster. There are six 2024 preseason selections earning all-conference first team nods. This is the third-straight first team all-conference honor for Jenna Perez of LMU and the second-straight first team recognition for her teammate Izzy Jamgotchian.
2024 WCC Softball Major Awards:
Coach of the Year - Sonja Garnett, Saint Mary's
Player of the Year – Hazyl Gray, Santa Clara
Co-Pitchers of the Year – Jenna Perez, LMU, and Odhi Vasquez, Saint Mary's
Defensive Player of the Year – Cairah Curran, Santa Clara
Freshman of the Year – Sam Buckley, Saint Mary's
2024 WCC Softball All-Conference First Team
Sam Buckley, Saint Mary's
Mika Chong, LMU
Avery Croxall, Pacific
Rian Dirmeyer, Pacific
Hannah Ferguson, Saint Mary's
Hazyl Gray, Santa Clara
Izzy Jamgotchian, LMU
Arianna Jaurequi, LMU
Taylor Johnson, San Diego
Amanda Limon, San Diego
Bailey McLaughlin, Santa Clara
Jenna Perez, LMU
2024 WCC Softball All-Conference Second Team
Robynn Balmediano, Santa Clara
McKenna Braegelmann, San Diego
Cairah Curran, Santa Clara
Hannah Edwards, Santa Clara
Savannah Hooks, LMU
Taylor Lane, Saint Mary's
Marissa Montelongo, Saint Mary's
Mia Nishikawa, Saint Mary's
Courtney Rose, San Diego
Morgan Salmon, Santa Clara
Odhi Vasquez, Saint Mary's
Avrey Wolverton, Saint Mary's
2024 WCC Softball All-Conference Honorable Mention
Jenavee Amador, Saint Mary's
Adele Braun, LMU
Lauryn Carter, LMU
Abigail Charpentier, Santa Clara
Alex Cutonilli, Saint Mary's
Hayley Olivas, LMU
Joecellia Roberts, San Diego
Carly Ruiz, San Diego
Delaney Scully, Pacific
Olivia Silvestre, Pacific
Jasmine Sofowora, LMU
Arisa Tovar, San Diego