Now that high school baseball and softball has wrapped up in Marion County, it’s time to hand out some hardware to the county’s biggest stars. Nominations for baseball’s awards will be in Thursday’s edition of The Columbian-Progress, but it’s time now to get into softball’s best players.
Nominated for the county’s Most Valuable Player are Columbia’s Kacey Stampley, West Marion’s Olivia Miller and East Marion’s Adrinae Aikens. While Stampley and Miller were two-way stars excelling both offensively and in the circle, Aikens is nominated as a hitter only, leading the county in on-base plus slugging percentage (1.915), which is a solid all-encompassing stat that takes into account the ability to make solid contact, drive the ball for extra-base hits and to draw walks.
Stampley had a monster campaign, batting .603 with six home runs, nine doubles, five triples, 42 RBI and a 1.869 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) to along with a 16-4 record, 2.61 ERA, 154 strikeouts in 118 innings pitched and 18 complete games. Miller has a different offensive profile as West Marion’s leadoff hitter, batting .583 with one homer, nine doubles, three triples, 16 RBI, 16 stolen bases and a 1.854 OPS to go along with a 3-2 record, three saves, 2.87 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 50.1 innings pitched. Aikens was a force at the plate and on the base paths, hitting .647 with three homers, eight doubles, five triples, 21 RBI and 30 stolen bases.
Aikens and Stampley are also nominated for Offensive Player of the Year as are Columbia’s Leah Nolan, West Marion’s Paris Thompson, Columbia Academy’s Allie Watts and East Marion’s Holly Jackson and Asia Lenoir. Nolan was an all-around threat against Columbia’s vaunted schedule, which is taken into consideration, batting .449 with three homers, 12 doubles, 28 RBI, six stolen bases and a 1.224 OPS. Thompson was the heart of the Lady Trojans lineup, hitting .563 with three long balls, seven doubles, two triples, 35 RBI, nine stolen bases and a 1.792 OPS.
Watts, who starred for CA in the fall, batted .427 with four homers, 16 doubles, four triples, 39 RBI, four stolen bases and a 1.293 OPS. Lenoir was a unique power-speed threat for the Lady Eagles, batting .457 with five homers, six doubles, one triple, 15 RBI, 22 stolen bases and a 1.572 OPS. A contact hitter with gap power, Holly Jackson hit .531 with two dingers, 10 doubles, three triples, 18 RBI, 21 stolen bases and a 1.587 OPS.
Stampley and Miller are the lone nominees for Pitcher of the Year, and their stats are listed under the MVP section.
For Most Improved Player, Columbia’s Jalaysia Everett, CA’s Maddie Claire Sauls and Watts (also nominated for Offensive Player of the Year) are in the running. After batting .244 as an eighth grader, .161 as a freshman and .105 as a sophomore, Everett developed into the speedy slap hitter Columbia needed in the leadoff spot in front of its powerful middle of the order. The all-star selection upped her batting average to .317 and scored a county-best 40 runs to go along with 21 stolen bases. Meanwhile, Sauls batted just .180 as a junior last season but improved to hit .321 with five doubles, three triples, 21 RBI and six stolen bases as a senior. Watts boosted her average up to .427 from .284 and increased her OPS from a pedestrian .739 to an elite 1.293.
New young talent was definitely not hard to come by this year as there are six nominees for Breakout Star of the Year, which goes to the best player who started for the first time this year. Lenoir, who was also nominated for Offensive Player of the Year, is joined by East Marion teammate Selena Jackson, West Marion’s Gracyn Odom and Samaria Pittman, Columbia Academy’s Macey Branch and Columbia’s Kaylee Stringer.
Selena Jackson led the county with an unreal 39 stolen bases and hit .435 with three triples. As the Lady Trojans’ starting shortstop as a seventh grader, Odom was an on-base machine who crazily never struck out once, batting .520 with five doubles, three triples, 25 RBI, six stolen bases and a 1.480 OPS. Pittman was similarly productive, hitting .500 with four doubles, 15 RBI and nine stolen bases and walking 11 more times than she struck out.
Lady Wildcats freshman Kaylee Stringer may be the next big Columbia star after batting .392 with eight doubles and 33 RBI against Columbia’s tough schedule. She also has a bright future in the circle after going 3-1 with a 4.36 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 25 2/3 innings. Branch, the youngest player among the nominees, shocked all of MAIS this season, becoming CA’s primary pitcher as a sixth grader. She went 9-5 with a 3.97 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 98 1/3 innings.
The softball award winners will be revealed in next Saturday’s edition of the C-P. Each winner will be awarded a plaque and have their picture taken for the front page of the paper for the June 5 edition.
