CalHiSports.com

August 1, 2007

Revisiting Ms. Softball Players of Year

Paul Muyskens
Special to CalHiSports

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You're going to see everybody and their grandma getting into the high school sports arena of rankings, athlete honoring and video clips in the next year. It's a red-hot market, but CalHiSports.com and its Cal-Hi Sports record books and publications has been around almost since those grandmas were playing themselves.

All of our various state player of the year lists are an example of the depth of our coverage and authentic expertise. We previously wrote up a feature of Mr. Baseball players of the year and now it's time to do the same for softball.

Instead of going back to 1997 as we did for baseball, we added five more years for softball due to having two repeat winners plus we wanted to go ahead and do 1992 since that was the year Team USA gold-medal winner Leah O'Brien from Don Lugo of Chino was the Ms. Softball pick.

Note: Our 2007 winner, in case you've been hiding in a cave, was pitcher Jordan Taylor of Valencia. She's headed to Michigan.

2006 — Amanda Williams, Oakley Freedom P
As arguably the top pitcher her senior year in the nation after going 23-0 with a 0.07 ERA she joined the defending champion Arizona Wildcats and made an impact right away. In her very first game she was in the circle and put up four hitless innings to lead the team to victory. Unfortunately she didn't last to see the Wildcats capture their second national championship in as many years as she was ruled academically ineligible after the first semester and is no longer at Arizona.

2005 — Katie Cotta, Linden P-DH
After leading Linden in her senior season to a 29-0-1 record and the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Div. IV title as she went 28-0-1 with a 0.15 ERA she eventually continued playing at West Valley Community College in Saratoga. Academic problems have plagued her career as well, but last season she helped the Vikings to earn a number one seed for the state community college playoffs. She pitched 174.1 innings with an ERA of 0.28 and struck out 357 batters. Cotta will eventually land at a top-notch four-year program.

2004 — Anjelica Selden, Travis AFB Vanden P
Since joining the UCLA Bruins in 2005 if there's a key game you might find Jelly in the circle. In her first two seasons, she pitched in every single game UCLA had at the Women's College World Series as she went 64-21 with a 1.08 ERA. For the 2007 season, she went 17-11 with a 2.82 ERA as she split more of the starts. Among the many honors she has earned include First-Team All Pac 10, World Series All-Tournament Team, and First-Team All American. Holds the UCLA record for most strikeouts in a season which she set in 2005 with 485.

2003 — Lisa Dodd, San Diego University City P-DH
After an all everything high school career in softball, soccer, and cross country, she headed to play softball at UCLA where she just finished her four years. Her best season in the circle came in her first as she went 15-2 with a 0.79 ERA striking out 76 in 115.2 innings pitched. But Dodd was more important at UCLA as a hitter and position player. She was honorable mention All-Pac 10, Women's College World Series All-Tournament team, and was picked to play for the gold medal winning Team USA at the 2004 World University Games.

2002 — Alicia Hollowell, Fairfield P
In just her first season at Arizona, she set the school record for most wins in a season with 40 which she would improve to 41 wins in 2004 and broke Jennie Finch's school record for strike outs in a season with 394, which she would also improve on in 2004 with 508. In her final season with the Wildcats, she was able to lead them to the Women's College World Series title and led them to victory, capturing the school's seventh softball championship in school history. Hollowell finished her four years with a record of 144-22, which was good for 3rd all time in NCAA history, and a 0.88 ERA with 1,762 strikeouts also the 3rd most in NCAA history. She has a good chance of making the 2008 USA Olympic team. She was on the national team that just won its sixth consecutive Pan American Games championship gold medal and pitched in one game combining with Jennie Finch to throw a no-hitter against Brazil.

2001 — Marissa Marzan, Fresno Bullard P
Originally headed to Arizona but after redshirting her freshman season she ended up transfering to Cal State Fullerton where due to transfering and then an ACL tear she missed the entire 2003 and 2004 season. Finally getting the chance to play for the first time in four years, she earned All-Big West Conference second team honors after going 14-5 with a 2.34 ERA.

2000 — Jamie Southern, Clovis, P-INF
Her success at Fresno State was great in her four years on the field and in the classroom as well as she had a 3.50 GPA and she won the NCAA Top VIII Award which is given to the top eight student-athletes in all college sports. From the first time she stepped into the circle to the last time, she dominated like never before seen in the WAC conference as in 2001 she led the entire nation in ERA and not only was the WAC rookie of the year but player of the year as well. She went on to became the first player in conference history to be a four-time WAC Pitcher of the Year. Finishing in the top three in the nation in ERA in all four years she finished with an overall ERA of 0.51 and a record of 118-34 while also hitting for .314 with 127 RBI. She has been a member of USA Softball's national team since 2002.

1999 — Andrea Vidlund, Orangevale Casa Roble, P
Taking the circle for the first time for the Oregon Ducks in 2000, she threw a complete-game one hitter in a victory over Rice as she went on to lead the team in wins with 17. Relied on not for just her arm but her bat as she played all 68 games in 2001 and led the team in homers with 11 while going 10-8 in the circle. Not having to pitch in 2002, she put up even higher numbers at the plate as she hit .320 with 39 RBI and nine home runs, finishing the season seventh all-time on Oregon's home run list. Had shoulder surgery after the 2002 season cutting into her final season greatly.

1998 & 1997 — Amanda Freed, Garden Grove Pacifica, P
Went to UCLA and made quite a name for herself in college softball after already making a huge mark in high school softball going 64-5 while also maintaining a 4.1 GPA. Pitched a no-hitter in her very first game with the Bruins as she dominated all year long, going 27-4 with a 0.96 ERA while also hitting .357 leading the way for UCLA to win the 1999 Women's College World Series. Despite an arm injury that forced her to miss some of the 2001 season, she still led the entire nation with a miniscule 0.46 ERA and was able to finish atop UCLA's list of career wins with 97 after her final game in 2002. A three-time All-American, Amanda was on the 2004 Olympic Softball Team which won the gold medal. She also currently contributes articles for our StudentSportsSoftball.com sister site.

1996 — Amanda Scott, Clovis P
Scott went to nearby Fresno State, where she would be relied on heavily to lead the Bulldog rotation right away. Going 19-5 with a 0.94 ERA while also batting .314 in her freshman season it would be just a sign of what was to come as she was named WAC Freshman of the Year. Hitting even better at a .351 average she also took the circle more as she went 25-4 with an ERA of just 0.79, leading Fresno State to its first everWomen's Softball National Championship as she was 3-1 in Women's College World Series play, not allowing an earned run in her 23.2 innings pitched. Fresno State winning it all in 1998 broke a streak of 10 years which either UCLA or Arizona took the title. Continuing to pitch even better, she went 29-4 in1999 with a 0.24 ERA, which led the nation. Overall in her four years, Scott went 106-18 with a 0.55 ERA and a career batting average of .303. With so many awards earned she became the school's first ever four-time NCAA First Team All-American. After leaving Fresno State, she has pitched in the National Pro Fastpitch league and helped coach at Michigan State before going to Iowa in 2005 to become the Hawkeyes' pitching coach.

1995 — Courtney Dale, Fresno Bullard P (Jr.)
Going to perennial power UCLA, she led the way for UCLA to recapture the NCAA Womens College World Series crown as a sophomore in 1998, throwing one of the top seasons in NCAA history as she went 33-1 with a 0.98 ERA and 218 strikeouts setting a record for most wins in a season. In the championship game, Dale not only led the way in the circle but at the plate as she hit the game-winning homerun. An injury interrupted her junior season but she came back strong to finish her four year career at UCLA with an overall record of 56-5. Softball has continued to be with her since leaving UCLA as she has played for team USA at the Pan-Am games, played professionally in Japan and in the U.S., and has been coaching at UCLA and the College of Southern Idaho.

1994 & 1993 — Sara Griffin, Simi Valley P
The two-time Ms. Softball winner had Michigan softball expecting big things as the team was excited to have her wearing the Wolverine colors for the 1995 season. She didn't dissapoint in her first year as she went 21-7 with a 1.48 ERA and was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. She followed that up with an even greater year in 1996 as she went 35-7 with a 1.10 ERA leading the Wolverines to the Womens College World Series. A freak play in 1997 saw her season come to an early end as she collided with her catcher on a pop up bunt and broke her arm in two places. Surprising many, Griffin came back from her injury to not only pitch in her senior season but had her best season as she went 35-3 with a minuscule 0.97 ERA while also hitting .346 with 52 RBI. Named Michigan's Female Athlete of the Year in 1998, she left with an overall record of 106-19 becoming the 15th player in NCAA history to reach 100 wins in a career.

1992 — Leah O'Brien, Chino Don Lugo P-OF
Arizona is a dynasty in college softball and O'Brien helped make that happen in her four years playing for head coach Mike Candrea. In her first season in 1993, she had the biggest hit of the season for Arizona as she had a RBI single that provided the lone run of the game in a 1-0 victory over UCLA in the Womens College World Series championship game. Arizona, with O'Brien going 9-for-12 at the plate to set a WCWS record, would go on to win it all again in 1994 and then lost in the championship game in 1995. After missing the 1996 season due to injury, she returned for the 1997 season and with her bat leading the way Arizona again was able to reach and win the Womens College World Series title for the third time in her four years. For her Arizona career, O'Brien was 21-5 with a 1.89 ERA and hit .428 with 53 doubles and 181 RBI and is 4th in NCAA history in runs scored with 253. After finishing at Arizona, she continued playing as part of the USA national team all the way until 2004 as she earned a gold medal with the team at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. Leah currently goes around speaking about religion and hosts a TV show with former Los Angeles Laker A.C. Green.