SAN BRUNO, Calif. – Santa Clara, which earned a share of the West Coast Conference softball championship and the Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, swept all five major awards as the softball all-conference teams, all-freshman team and major awards were announced Wednesday.
Gina Carbonatto was voted the West Coast Conference Coach of the Year, while Cairah Curran was tabbed the Player of the Year. Taryn Clements was voted the Defensive Player of the Year and Cari Ferguson won both Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year.
All five major individual awards, along with the all-conference teams and the all-freshman team, were voted on solely by the league’s six head coaches.
In her sixth season with Santa Clara, Carbonatto has already led the Broncos to a record-setting year. Santa Clara recorded the most overall wins in a single season in the 46-year history of the program with 32, and the most conference victories (11) in a season since the conference began sponsoring softball in 2014. She guided Santa Clara to its first NCAA Tournament berth in program history.
Curran, the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year a season ago, was voted the Player of the Year this season after already setting both the program’s and the West Coast Conference’s single-season record for hits with 78, which is also tied for 11th in the country. Curran leads the West Coast Conference in hitting (.429), hits, triples (5) and runs scored (49). The runs scored total is currently tied for fifth-most in a season in West Coast Conference history. Curran also ranks third in on-base percentage (.495) and OPS (1.017) in the West Coast Conference. In conference play, her 18 hits rank third. She leads the conference in stolen bases with nine during league play.
In her first year with the Broncos, Ferguson won eight games in the circle, boasting a 1.92 ERA with 60 strikeouts overall. She is tied for the team lead with 26 appearances, starting 15 contests. The freshman owned a 0.77 ERA with 22 strikeouts in conference play, going 5-1 in six starts and 10 total appearances. Ferguson recorded a complete game in half of her starts in conference play. She picked up the win in Santa Clara’s West Coast Conference title-clinching victory last Saturday.
Clements, a sophomore, started 45 of the 48 games she played in. The catcher threw out 12 runners and owned a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage on the year. Her .336 batting average ranks 10th in the West Coast Conference overall. She also ranks seventh in the conference in RBI (32), eighth in on-base percentage (.419) and ninth in doubles (9) overall. Clements led the conference in doubles in conference play with five.
Santa Clara also boasted the strongest representation on the All-West Coast Conference First Team with six Broncos represented on the 12-member team. Saint Mary’s and Oregon State each featured two representatives on the first team, while both LMU and Pacific garnered one representative on the first team.
Overall, there were 14 repeat all-conference selections from a year ago. Highlighting the All-West Coast Conference teams are Santa Clara senior Hannah Edwards and LMU senior Jasmine Sofowora, who each earned all-conference recognition for the fourth time in their careers. Edwards is a first-team selection this year, after earning second-team honors in 2024 and 2022 and an honorable mention selection in 2023. Sofowora is a second-team honoree this season, also earning second-team recognition in 2022 and an honorable mention selection in 2024 and 2023. LMU junior Izzy Jamgotchian earned first-team honors for the third year in a row. Santa Clara’s Hazyl Gray, San Diego’s McKenna Braegelmann and Odhi Vasquez of Saint Mary’s each earned All-West Coast Conference recognition for the third time.
The West Coast Conference recognizes a 12-member first and second team, and a seven-member All-Freshman Team. There was a tie in the voting for both the second team and All-Freshman Team, which added an additional spot to each team.
West Coast Conference Major Awards
Coach of the Year – Gina Carbonatto, Santa Clara
Player of the Year – Cairah Curran, Santa Clara
Defensive Player of the Year – Taryn Clements, Santa Clara
Pitcher of the Year – Cari Ferguson, Santa Clara
Freshman of the Year – Cari Ferguson, Santa Clara
First Team All-West Coast Conference
Hope Alley, Santa Clara
Sam Buckley, Saint Mary's
Taryn Clements, Santa Clara
Cairah Curran, Santa Clara
Hannah Edwards, Santa Clara
Cari Ferguson, Santa Clara
Hazyl Gray, Santa Clara
Logan Hulon, Oregon State
Izzy Jamgotchian, LMU
Jada Lewis, Oregon State
Olivia Silvestre, Pacific
Odhi Vasquez, Saint Mary's
Second Team All-West Coast Conference
Amanda Bricker, Pacific
Victoria Castillo, Saint Mary's
Tori Cervantes, Saint Mary's
Mika Chong, LMU
Ellie Garcia, Oregon State
Sakora Harvell, LMU
Morgan Howey, Oregon State
Taylor Johnson, San Diego
Camille Lara, Saint Mary's
Mia Nishikawa, Saint Mary's
Justine Lambert, LMU
Rebecca Rubio, Santa Clara
Jasmine Sofowora, LMU
West Coast Conference Honorable Mention
Kyla Acres, Santa Clara
Jenavee Amador, Saint Mary's
McKenna Braegelmann, San Diego
Jaeya Butler, Oregon State
Emma Dazell, Pacific
Alyssa Hernandez, San Diego
Shawnese Hogue-Lacy, San Diego
Jessica Hubbard, LMU
Kelsey Tadlock, San Diego
Tristian Thompson, Oregon State
Kaitlyn Wynia, San Diego
All-West Coast Conference Freshman Team
Paige Bambarger, Oregon State
Angela Carrera, LMU
Peyton Clifford, Pacific
Cari Ferguson, Santa Clara
Analiah Lummus, LMU
Sophia Pinedo, San Diego
Jayleen Scott, Pacific
Mia Zabat, Saint Mary's