The SEC's postseason softball awards came out today and Arkansas took home quite a few. Courney Deifel was named SEC Coach of the Year and Mary Haff was named SEC co-Pitcher of the Year. Haff and Braxton Burnside were first-team All-SEC selections, while Danielle Gibson, Hannah McEwen and Auburn Storms earned second-team All-SEC recognition and Jenna Bloom landed on the SEC's All-Newcomer Team.
Deifel being named COTY had to be the easiest selection of all-time. What she has done is nothing short of incredible.
Some of y'all may get upset about Haff getting a "co-" award, but her numbers are actually pretty similar to Alabama's Montana Fouts...
~Haff: 23-5, 5 saves, 1.61 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 7.21 K/7IP, 5.0 K/BB, .192 BAA
~Fouts: 19-3, 3 saves, 1.63 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 10.66 K/7IP, 5.9 K/BB, .187 BAA
What I don't understand is how Burnside didn't at least get SEC co-Player of the Year with Alabama's Bailey Hemphill. I mean, look at these numbers...
~Burnside: .347/.497/.889/1.386, 30 XBH (6 2B, 24 HR), 51 RBI, 50 R, 37 BB/20 K
~Hemphill: .412/.567/.689/1.256, 16 XBH (7 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR), 40 RBI, 35 R, 42 BB/5 K
Sure, .412 and only 5 K are impressive...but Burnside has a legitimate shot to break the SEC's single-season HR record. She's slugging nearly .900 and her OPS is 130 points higher than Hemphill's OPS. If you're willing to do co-Pitcher of the Year, why not also do co-Player of the Year?
And honestly, you could make a case that Hemphill should even be first-team All-SEC at her position. Look at the second-team catcher's stats...
~Kentucky's Kayla Kowalik: .509/.561/.834, 27 XBH (9 2B, 6 3B, 12 HR), 35 RBI, 72 R, 21 BB/14 K...oh, and also 19 of 21 on SB attempts...and also a better FLD% (.996 vs. .991) and same number of passed balls allowed.
tl;dr - SEC = dumb
Deifel being named COTY had to be the easiest selection of all-time. What she has done is nothing short of incredible.
Some of y'all may get upset about Haff getting a "co-" award, but her numbers are actually pretty similar to Alabama's Montana Fouts...
~Haff: 23-5, 5 saves, 1.61 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 7.21 K/7IP, 5.0 K/BB, .192 BAA
~Fouts: 19-3, 3 saves, 1.63 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 10.66 K/7IP, 5.9 K/BB, .187 BAA
What I don't understand is how Burnside didn't at least get SEC co-Player of the Year with Alabama's Bailey Hemphill. I mean, look at these numbers...
~Burnside: .347/.497/.889/1.386, 30 XBH (6 2B, 24 HR), 51 RBI, 50 R, 37 BB/20 K
~Hemphill: .412/.567/.689/1.256, 16 XBH (7 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR), 40 RBI, 35 R, 42 BB/5 K
Sure, .412 and only 5 K are impressive...but Burnside has a legitimate shot to break the SEC's single-season HR record. She's slugging nearly .900 and her OPS is 130 points higher than Hemphill's OPS. If you're willing to do co-Pitcher of the Year, why not also do co-Player of the Year?
And honestly, you could make a case that Hemphill should even be first-team All-SEC at her position. Look at the second-team catcher's stats...
~Kentucky's Kayla Kowalik: .509/.561/.834, 27 XBH (9 2B, 6 3B, 12 HR), 35 RBI, 72 R, 21 BB/14 K...oh, and also 19 of 21 on SB attempts...and also a better FLD% (.996 vs. .991) and same number of passed balls allowed.
tl;dr - SEC = dumb
