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BYU Softball: Rylee Jensen named WCC Player of the Year, nine Cougars earn honors

By Shaun Gordon

BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Home plate and the batters box are seen before the interleague game between the Boston Red Sox and the Atlanta Braves at Fenway Park on June 23, 2012 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Home plate and the batters box are seen before the interleague game between the Boston Red Sox and the Atlanta Braves at Fenway Park on June 23, 2012 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images) /
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Fresh off their tenth consecutive conference title, nine BYU Softball players earned individual honors, including Player of the Year Rylee Jensen.

It should come as no surprise that BYU and Loyola Marymount dominated the West Coast Conference softball honors, since the two teams dominated the regular season.

On Tuesday, the conference released their All-WCC Softball Awards, and the two top teams both saw nine players and coaches earn honors.

Both teams earned three of the five major awards, and no, that math isn’t incorrect.

BYU’s Rylee Jensen was named WCC Player of the Year, becoming the fourth consecutive Cougar to win the award. She joins Caitlyn Larsen Alldredge (2017), Ashley Thompson (2016), and Gordy Bravo (2015) on the list of back-to-back-to-back-to-back BYU winners.

In conference play alone, Jensen hit .474 with 18 runs scored. She also led the conference with an eye-popping .608 on-base percentage.

She’s been the driving force behind BYU’s late-season surge. The Cougars won 18 out of their last 20 games, including 10 straight, to clinch their tenth straight conference championship. During that time, they’ve averaged more than seven runs per game, which would rank first in the nation.

Along with Jensen’s win, Kerisa Viramontes earned Co-Pitcher of the Year (see, the math is right), along with LMU’s Hanna Bandimere. In conference play, Viramontes went 8-0 with a 1.37 ERA and 43 strikeouts. Just like with Player of the Year, the Cougars have now won four straight Pitcher of the Year Honors as well.

Rounding out the major award winners for BYU is Bridget Fleener, the WCC Freshman of the Year. Fleener led the conference with a .500 batting average, driving in 13 runs and scoring 7 of her own. She’s the second straight Cougar to win Freshman of the Year, after Rylee Jensen took home the award last year.

Along with their major awards, all three Cougars were also named to one of the All-WCC teams, and nine BYU players in all received All-WCC honors:

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First Team

  • Bridget Fleener (Fr.)
  • Rylee Jensen (So.)
  • Libby Sugg (Sr.)
  • Lexi Tarrow (Jr.)

Second Team

  • Autumn Moffat (Fr.)
  • Alexa Strid (Sr.)
  • Kerisa Viramontes (So.)

Honorable Mention

  • Brielle Breland (Sr.)
  • Madison Merrell (Sr.)

The Cougars aren’t finished playing yet, though. Their WCC  title earned them a spot in the NCAA Tournament, where they’ll play in the Oregon Regional. Their first game is against No. 29 Drake on Thursday. They’ll play at 4pm MDT, and the game will be streamed online by ESPN.

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