8 Longhorns named to All-Big 12 softball team, Atwood tabbed player of the year
AUSTIN (KXAN) — With team success comes individual awards, and by looking at the All-Big 12 and postseason award selections, the Texas Longhorns had a very successful season.
Eight Longhorns were named to the conference's all-star team while three, including head coach Mike White, picked up superlative honors, the league announced Wednesday.
Sophomore catcher Reese Atwood was named the player of the year, pitcher Teagan Kavan was tabbed the freshman of the year and White grabbed coach of the year honors. Atwood is the school record holder in home runs (21) and RBIs (83) in a season and can add to them throughout the postseason, which begins Thursday in the conference tournament quarterfinals.
"It's just a great honor," she said. "It's great for this team to be recognized at this level."
Atwood ended the regular season as the Big 12's leader in home runs, RBIs, total bases and OPS. She also walked more times than she struck out. She drew 16 walks and struck out just 15 times.
Atwood is the first Texas player since Taylor Thom in 2014 to be named the conference player of the year and the third in program history.
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Kavan dazzled in the circle, racking up a team-high 16 wins with a 2.09 ERA in 97 1/3 innings pitched. So far, she's struck out 99 and walked 30 while holding opponents to a .177 average. She also has three saves on the season.
White said he considers the coach of the year award an honor for the entire coaching staff. It's the first time since 2010 that a Texas coach has won the award and the Longhorns have been the top-ranked team in the country since they beat Oklahoma in two out of three games.
"My staff has been fantastic all year. There's a lot of people behind the scenes that keep this thing going," White said. "So kudos to them."
Along with Atwood and Kavan, three other Longhorns were named to the All-Big 12 first team. Junior infielder Mia Scott, sophomore pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez and sophomore outfielder Ashton Maloney were all on the top team. Texas and Oklahoma each landed five players on the first team.
Freshman Kayden Henry, sophomore Viviana Martinez and freshman Katie Stewart were named to the second team. Henry, Stewart and Kavan were also named to the Big 12 all-freshman team.