By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---The Owens Community College softball team swept the postseason awards after capturing the program's second consecutive Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) championship.
Freshman outfielder Jacey Gray (Springfield/Holland, Ohio) was named the OCCAC Player of the Year, while Lesley Ducat (Evergreen/Lyons, Ohio) was named the OCCAC Pitcher of the Year.
Head coach Marcus Smith was named the OCCAC Coach of the Year after leading the team to an OCCAC championship in his first year with the program.
Gray went 23-for-43 (.535) in OCCAC play, while adding 15 runs, two doubles, six RBI, three walks and 14 RBI. Overall, she is 69-for-149 (.463) this year with 53 runs, seven doubles, 22 RBI, 13 walks and 49 stolen bases.
"Jacey caused so much havoc on the bases this year," Owens softball head coach Marcus Smith said. "Other teams tried to stop her offensively and just couldn't because her speed kills. Not only did she disrupt defenses, but when they were worried about her it helped our other batters. She was also very strong in right field for us. She is a weapon every team wants, and I'm glad she is on ours. It was really cool that a slapper could win player of the Year. Most of the time it goes to power hitters, and that just goes to show how hard of an out she was."
Ducat finished 6-0 with a 2.92 ERA in OCCAC play. She struck out 53 over 52.2 innings pitched. Overall, she is 18-5 with a 2.97 ERA and one save this year. In 169.2 innings, she has struck out 155. In two seasons, Ducat is currently 39-9 overall with a 3.01 ERA. She has 298 strikeouts over 314 innings.
"Lesley was a very key component to our success in the circle and other teams knew when she was throwing it was going to be hard to score on her," Smith said. "She had such a great year on and off the field with a 4.0 GPA in both semesters, and she signed with Siena Heights University. This kid is tough as nails and pitched great this year."
Aside from those two, Makayla Burtscher (Bedford/Temperance, Mich.), Tori Weidinger (Whitmer/Toledo, Ohio) and Katelyn Jensen (Genoa/Genoa, Ohio) also made the All-OCCAC team.
Burtscher went 17-for-46 (.370) in league play with 10 runs, one double, three triples, two home runs, seven RBI, one walk and eight stolen bases. Weidinger went 13-for-38 (.342) with five runs, one double, five home runs, 15 RBI, three walks and a stolen base. Jensen went 10-for-17 (.588) with eight runs, four doubles, one home run, 11 RBI, one walk and three stolen bases.
Burtscher is 65-for-164 (.396) overall. She has 50 runs, six doubles, eight triples, five home runs, 23 RBI, 10 walks and 39 stolen bases. Weidinger is 55-for-135 (.407) overall with 17 runs, 12 doubles, 11 home runs, 49 RBI, 15 walks and four stolen bases. Jensen is 23-for-57 (.404) overall with 17 runs, five doubles, one home run, 16 RBI, seven walks and six stolen bases.
In OCCAC play, Gray led the league in runs, hits and stolen bases. Burtscher led the league in triples. Weidinger led the league in home runs and RBI. Just behind Gray in stolen bases was Burtscher with eight.
Those five players have led Owens to a 31-16 record overall. In OCCAC play, the team finished 10-2 and captured the program's second straight and 13th OCCAC championship overall.
In postseason play, Owens went 3-0 while outscoring its opponents 33-4 to capture the Region XII District I tournament championship last week. They earned the program's third ever berth in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II National Tournament with the victory. They will open the double elimination tournament as the No. 15 seed and will take on No. 2 seed Mississippi Gulf Coast at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Region XII Awards
In addition to their conference honors, Gray and Ducat were also named First Team All-Region XII. Both are up for consideration for NJCAA All-American honors, as well.