By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Toledo, Ohio---Brittany George (Elmwood/Wayne, Ohio) and Lesley Ducat (Evergreen/Lyons, Ohio) took home top honors as the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) postseason awards were announced recently.

George was named the OCCAC Player of the Year, while Ducat was named the OCCAC Pitcher of the Year. Both players were freshmen and played critical roles in the success of the Owens Community College softball team, which finished 27-9 this year and captured the OCCAC championship with an 11-1 record.

Brittany George, Fr. Shortstop

George had a record breaking first year with Owens as she broke the program's single season records for batting average (.549), on base percentage (.607) and slugging percentage (1.059). In fact, she is the first player in Owens softball history to achieve a 1.000 slugging percentage or higher.

In addition to those records, George had team-highs in runs (48), doubles (16), triples (3), home runs (10), hits (56) and walks (17). She was second on the team in RBIs (45) and stolen bases (9).

In 124 plate appearances, George only struck out twice.

In OCCAC play, George hit a team-high .643 (18-for-28) with 14 runs, seven doubles, one triple, one homer, 11 RBIs, nine walks and six stolen bases. She had a .711 on base percentage and a 1.071 slugging percentage.

In addition to her First Team All-OCCAC and OCCAC Player of the Year selections, George was named First Team All-Region XII.

Lesley Ducat, Fr. RHP

Ducat became just the fifth pitcher in Owens softball history to win 20 or more games in a season this past year en route to top pitching honors in the OCCAC.

She led the team in innings pitched (144.1), strikeouts (143), wins (21), saves (1) and ERA (3.06) this past year, while starting 19 games and seeing action in 29. She threw 17 complete games and had twice as many innings pitched as any other pitcher on the team.

In OCCAC play, Ducat was 8-0 with a 3.04 ERA in 48.1 innings pitched. She struck out 53 and averaged 7.68 strikeouts per game.

Ducat led the league in wins, fewest losses, strikeouts per game, saves, complete games (5) and innings pitched.

Offensively, Ducat hit .351 (13-for-37) in conference play with eight runs, three doubles, eight RBIs and six walks. She struck out only once. Overall, she hit .369 (31-for-84) with 14 runs, five doubles, one homer, 17 RBIs, 12 walks and three stolen bases.

In addition to George, Ducat was also named First Team All-Region XII.

All-OCCAC

Aside from George and Ducat, sophomore infielder Emily Rockman (Springfield/Holland, Ohio), sophomore first baseman Molly Gast (Sylvania Southview/Toledo, Ohio) and freshman catcher/outfielder Tori Weidinger (Whitmer/Toledo, Ohio) were also named to the All-OCCAC team.

Rockman, who led the team in at bats with 116, hit .466 (54-for-116) with 32 runs, nine doubles, two triples, eight homers, 44 RBIs, 10 RBIs and eight stolen bases. She had a .500 on base percentage and a .784 slugging percentage.

In OCCAC play, Rockman hit .500 (20-for-40) with 15 runs, three doubles, one triple, four homers, 15 RBIs, four walks and three stolen bases. She had a .533 on base percentage and a .925 slugging percentage.

Gast hit .341 (31-for-91) overall with 25 runs, five doubles, one homer, 21 RBIs, nine walks and five stolen bases. She had a .419 on base percentage and a .429 slugging percentage.

In OCCAC play, Gast hit .345 (10-for-29) with nine runs, three doubles, eight RBIs, five walks and two stolen bases. She had a .472 on base percentage and a .448 slugging percentage.

Weidinger had a monster freshman year as she finished second on the team with a .509 batting average (.55-for-108). For a while, she was slugging over 1.000, although she settled on a .555 on base percentage and a .963 slugging percentage. In addition to those numbers, she had 27 runs, 15 doubles, two triples, 10 homers, 48 RBIs, 10 walks and four stolen bases.

In OCCAC play, Weidinger hit .575 with 15 runs, seven doubles, seven homers, 28 RBIs, four walks and one stolen base. Additionally, she had a .614 on base percentage and a slugging percentage of 1.275.

Coach of the Year

Owens head softball coach Duane Lanham was named the OCCAC Coach of the Year. It is the sixth time he has won the award.