UH’s Li’ili’i named to All-Big West softball first team
UH Rainbow Wahine's (27) Leisha Liilii is congratulated by family and friends during the senior night celebration after a game against the UC Davis Aggies at the wahine softball stadium in Manoa on Saturday.
Leisha Li’ili’i closed her University of Hawaii softball career by being named to the All-Big West first team for the second straight year.
Li’ili’i, a senior first baseman/designated hitter, was UH’s lone representative on the first team with freshman pitcher Brittany Hitchcock, sophomore first baseman Heather Morales and senior catcher Kayla Wartner named to the second team. Junior Keiki Carlos was an honorable mention pick. Hitchcock was also named to the all-freshman team.
Li’ili’i repeated as a first-team selection after hitting .325 overall with a team-high 11 home runs and 37 runs batted in. In Big West play, she hit .400 with five homers and 16 RBIs.
Morales ended the season as UH’s leading hitter at .331 overall and trailed Li’ili’i with 32 RBIs. She also posted a .996 fielding percentage at first base with one error in 256 chances.
Wartner hit .306 and was second on the team with 10 homers. She threw out eight of 13 attempted base stealers.
Hitchcock returned from a redshirt year to go 18-7 with a 2.37 earned-run average, 85 strikeouts against 40 walks and four shutouts. She went 9-2 in conference play with eight complete games in 11 starts.
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Carlos moved into the leadoff spot for most of the conference season and hit .288 in league games with 13 RBIs and four home runs. She hit .293 overall with a team-high 11 doubles and eight homers.
CSUN’s Katie Hooper was named Big West Player of the Year and Tairia Flowers was the Coach of the Year after leading the Matadors to the conference title. Long Beach State’s Christina Clermont and UC Riverside’s Chelsea Ponce shared the Pitcher of the Year award. LBSU shortstop was the Defensive Player of the Year. CSUN’s Zoe Conley was the Freshman Pitcher of the Year and CSUN’s Savannah Horvath and Cal State Fullerton’s Samantha Vandiver were the Co-Freshman Field Players of the Year.
