FRISCO, Texas – Southland Conference regular season softball champion McNeese led the way with eight all-conference selections as the conference announced its 2023 all-conference teams and superlative award winners Monday.
The Cowgirls had a 21-3 conference record to win their eighth regular season championship and will host the 2023 Southland Conference Softball Championship on Tuesday-Friday, May 9-12.
Southeastern catcher Bailey Krolczyk was recognized as the conference’s Player of the Year and Hitter of the Year, while A&M-Corpus Christi pitcher Primrose Aholelei was named the Pitcher of the Year and Newcomer of the Year. HCU’s AB Garcia is the Freshman of the Year and Nicholls’ Justin Lewis is the Coach of the Year.
Krolczyk ranked second in the SLC with a .384 batting average for the season and led the conference in hits (63), runs batted in (48), slugging percentage (.677), doubles (16), total bases (111) and homeruns (10). She is the Lady Lions’ first-ever winner of both the Player of the Year and Hitter of the Year awards.
Aholelei – a transfer from Bossier Parish CC – led the conference with 18 wins and 159 strikeouts in 183.2 innings pitched, which was 47 more innings than second in the league. Her 1.83 earned run average ranked second in the conference and her .228 opponents’ batting average was fourth in the SLC. She is the first Islander to win the Pitcher of the Year award and third A&M-Corpus Christi player to win Newcomer of the Year (Kim Connelly in 2008 and Hannah Schwarz in 2010).
Garcia led the conference in batting average at .423 and finished second in total hits behind Krolczyk wth 60. Her on-base percentage of .446 ranked second in the SLC and her 36 runs scored ranked third. She is the second HCU player to win Freshman of the Year honors, joining Kirsten Schwirtlich in 2013.
Lewis led the Colonels to an impressive turnaround in the 2023 season. After finishing in a tie for sixth in a seven-team conference in 2022 with a 4-14 conference record and 12-37 overall mark last year, the 2023 Colonels placed third in the conference with a 13-11 conference record and 27-22 overall record entering the conference tournament. This is the sixth time a Nicholls skipper has won Coach of the Year honors.
McNeese’s eight overall selections to the all-conference teams leads the league, followed by Southeastern with five. HCU and Nicholls each had three selections, while A&M-Corpus Christi had two honorees and Lamar, Northwestern State, and A&M-Commerce had one apiece.
Player of the Year: Bailey Krolczyk, Southeastern
Hitter of the Year: Bailey Krolczyk, Southeastern
Pitcher of the Year: Primrose Aholelei, A&M-Corpus Christi
Freshman of the Year: AB Garcia, HCU
Newcomer of the Year: Primrose Aholelei, A&M-Corpus Christi
Coach of the Year: Justin Lewis, Nicholls
FIRST TEAM
| Pos. |
Player |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
| 1B |
Lexi Johnson |
Southeastern |
Jr. |
Reserve, La. |
| 2B |
Erin Krause |
Nicholls |
Fr. |
Cypress, Texas |
| SS |
Kaydee Bennett |
A&M-Commerce |
Fr. |
Caddo Mills, Texas |
| 3B |
Haylie Savage 2 |
HCU |
So. |
Angleton, Texas |
| C |
Bailey Krolczyk 2 |
Southeastern |
Jr. |
Corpus Christi, Texas |
| UT |
Chloe Gomez |
McNeese |
Jr. |
Spring, Texas |
| DP |
Audrey Greely 3 |
Southeastern |
Jr. |
Geismar, La. |
| OF |
Alayis Seneca 2 |
McNeese |
Sr. |
The Woodlands, Texas |
| OF |
Alexa Poche’ |
Nicholls |
Jr. |
New Orleans, La. |
| OF |
AB Garcia |
HCU |
R-Fr. |
Cypress, Texas |
| P |
Primrose Aholelei |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Jr. |
Honolulu, Hawai’i |
| P |
Whitney Tate |
McNeese |
Sr. |
Columbia, La. |
SECOND TEAM
| Pos. |
Player |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
| 1B |
Kaylee Ancelot |
Lamar |
Gr. |
Orangefield, Texas |
| 2B |
Mariana Torres |
McNeese |
So. |
Pflugerville, Texas |
| SS |
Reese Reyna |
McNeese |
So. |
Santa Fe, Texas |
| 3B |
Rylie Bouvier |
McNeese |
So. |
Santa Fe, Texas |
| C |
Gabriella Torres |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
San Antonio, Texas |
| UT |
Melise Gossen 2 |
Nicholls |
Sr. |
Rayne, La. |
| DP |
Makenzie Chaffin |
Northwestern State |
Jr. |
Bossier City, La. |
| OF |
Erin Ardoin |
McNeese |
So. |
Moss Bluff, La. |
| OF |
Avery Drake |
HCU |
R-So. |
Belton, Texas |
| OF |
Cam Goodman |
Southeastern |
Jr. |
Marrero, La. |
| P |
Ashley Vallejo 2 |
McNeese |
Jr. |
New Waverly, Texas |
| P |
KK Ladner |
Southeastern |
Sr. |
Kiln, Miss. |
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