MORRISTOWN, TN – Walters State swept the 2023 TCCAA Softball Awards on Friday, while 10 players made All-Conference Teams.

Lady Senator sophomore shortstop Kasey Bennett was named the TCCAA Player of the Year, while freshman Tori Coffman was named the TCCAA Pitcher of the Year. Walters State coach Larry Sauceman was named the TCCAA Coach of the Year. 

As for All-TCCAA Teams, Coffman, Ashley Milligan, Jules Johnson, Bennett, Brianna Beech, Halle Laramie and Kailey Dixon were named to the All-TCCAA First Team. Tatum Dye, Abigail Taylor and Sarah King were named to the All-TCCAA Second Team. 

Bennett was named the conference's Player of the Year after a season to remember. Bennett hit .469 on the season, mashing 22 homers and driving in 71 runs. Bennett was fourth in the conference in batting average, second in RBIs and tied for first in home runs. Bennett had a .537 OBP and had 155 total bases on the season. She also led the league with 77 runs scored, 12 more than second place.

For Coffman, she earned Pitcher of the Year following a freshman campaign that will go down in the record books. Coffman finished the regular season with a record of 26-1, recording two saves as well. Coffman gave up just 17 earned runs all season for an ERA of 0.85. She totalled 243 strikeouts and allowed just 66 hits in 140.1 innings pitched. 

Coffman was first in the conference in wins by five wins, first in strikeouts by 82 strikeouts, tied for first in saves and was first in K/7 innings at 12.2 strikeouts. Coffman is tied for first in the country in wins, is second in strikeouts and fourth in ERA. 

For Sauceman, he earned the honor after leading the Lady Senators to a 48-2 record and a No. 4 ranking in the country. The Lady Senators won the regular season conference title for the fourth time in school history. They were 22-0 at home and won their first 35 games of the season. 

On the All-TCCAA First Team were Johnson, Milligan, Beech, Laramie and Dixon. Johnson hit .378 on the season while mashing 21 home runs and driving in 69 runs. For Beech, she tied Bennett for the conference lead with 22 homers. She hit .446 and drove in 68 runs. Meanwhile, Laramie was named to the team as a utility player following a regular season where she hit .364 with 15 homers and 59 RBIs. 

Rounding out the first team were Dixon and Milligan. Manning centerfield, Dixon hit. 439 as the leadoff hitter for Walters State. She drove in 36 runs and scored 56 runs. Her on base percentage was .481. For Milligan, she won 21 games in the circle and posted a 1.96 ERA. She was second in the conference in strikeouts with 156. 

On the second team were Dye, Taylor and King. At third base, Dye hit .463 with 17 homers and 65 RBIs. Dye was named the NJCAA DI Softball Player of the Week during the season, as well. 

Taylor and King both manned the outfield corners and were sparks at the bottom of the lineup. King hit .359 and drove in 24 runs while Taylor hit .396 and drove in 14 runs. 

Rob Harvey

Walters State Community College

Sports Information Director

Cell: (423) 779-8880

Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu

Website: www.ws.edu/athletics