Four Huskies Named All-Americans
May 28, 2019 | Softball
LOUISVILLE β The Washington Huskies had four players named to the All-American teams by the NFCA for their stellar 2019 seasons. Taran Alvelo, Sis Bates, Morganne Flores, and Gabbie Plain were all named All-Americans. Bates and Plain were each named First Team, Flores Second Team, and Alvelo Third Team. Bates was one of seven players in the country to be a unanimous First Team selection.
The four All-Americans are the most for Washington in the last 20 years. Only once, 1996, has Washington had more All-Americans than this year. The last time Washington had multiple First Team All-Americans was 2010: the program has only had multiple First Team honors five times in its history.
Alvelo, Bates, and Plain become the 15th, 16th, and 17th Huskies to earn multiple All-American awards in their careers. Alvelo and Plain are the sixth and seventh pitchers to do so. Flores is the 32nd individual Husky to earn at least one All-American honor.
This is the second All-American award for Bates, with the junior also earning First Team honors after the 2018 season. This year, Bates became the third player ever to repeat as Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, making just two errors at shortstop and improving her career fielding percentage with a .987 mark this year. Her career mark of .981 is the all-time Husky record for middle infielders.
Bates hit .386/.465/.478 on the year, recording her second 70-hit season in a row and reaching the 200-hit mark in under three seasons, something accomplished by only five other Huskies ever. She hit .438 with a .500 OBP during Pac-12 play, good for third in the conference in each category. 21 times Bates recorded multiple hits in a game, including two career-best four-hit games.
Plain earned her second All-American honor in as many years after earning Third Team honors last season. Plain has pitched to a 1.14 ERA and 23-2 record, striking out 229 batters in 172.2 innings for her first career 200-K season. She has thrown three no-hitters this year, including Washington's sixth-ever postseason no-hitter. Only two other pitchers, Danielle Lawrie and Jennifer Spediacci, have thrown three no-hitters in a single season for the Huskies.
Plain struck out ten or more batters in ten games, including a 15-strikeout game. She struck out 14 twice, reaching that mark against Fordham in Regionals to tie the Washington record for postseason strikeouts in a game of seven or fewer innings. 24 times Plain did not allow a run: she allowed multiple runs to score just nine times in her 36 appearances.
This is Flores' first All-American award, coming after a year in which she broke the 20-home run mark for the first time. Flores launched 22 bombs this year, setting a Husky record with 11 in Pac-12 play. Only three Huskies ever have hit more homers in a single season than Flores. The junior also had 60 RBI, becoming the fifth Husky ever with multiple seasons of 60+ RBI.
Flores had 18 games with multiple RBI and four multi-home run games. That included Flores' second career multi-homer postseason game, making her the only Husky in school history with multiple career postseason games with multiple home runs. Flores now has eight postseason home runs in her career, one off the Washington record.
Alvelo has now been named an All-American each of the last two seasons. She moved to second in Washington history in strikeouts this year and led the Pac-12 with 268. Alvelo set a new career high in strikeouts in back-to-back games, with 15 against Florida before striking out 16 the very next day against Cal State Fullerton.
Alvelo struck out double digits in 12 times, giving her 28 double-digit strikeout games in her career, a mark only bested by Danielle Lawrie in Husky history. Only seven times in her 37 appearances did an opponent score more than one earned run against Alvelo. She is in the top five in Washington history in wins, complete games, and strikeouts and in the top three in the nation among active pitchers in all of those categories as well.
The Huskies will begin World Series play Thursday as they take on #6 Arizona at 9:00 am PT.
Make sure to follow Husky Softball on Twitter with the username @UWSoftball and on Instagram at uwsoftball.
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The four All-Americans are the most for Washington in the last 20 years. Only once, 1996, has Washington had more All-Americans than this year. The last time Washington had multiple First Team All-Americans was 2010: the program has only had multiple First Team honors five times in its history.
Alvelo, Bates, and Plain become the 15th, 16th, and 17th Huskies to earn multiple All-American awards in their careers. Alvelo and Plain are the sixth and seventh pitchers to do so. Flores is the 32nd individual Husky to earn at least one All-American honor.
This is the second All-American award for Bates, with the junior also earning First Team honors after the 2018 season. This year, Bates became the third player ever to repeat as Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, making just two errors at shortstop and improving her career fielding percentage with a .987 mark this year. Her career mark of .981 is the all-time Husky record for middle infielders.
Bates hit .386/.465/.478 on the year, recording her second 70-hit season in a row and reaching the 200-hit mark in under three seasons, something accomplished by only five other Huskies ever. She hit .438 with a .500 OBP during Pac-12 play, good for third in the conference in each category. 21 times Bates recorded multiple hits in a game, including two career-best four-hit games.
Plain earned her second All-American honor in as many years after earning Third Team honors last season. Plain has pitched to a 1.14 ERA and 23-2 record, striking out 229 batters in 172.2 innings for her first career 200-K season. She has thrown three no-hitters this year, including Washington's sixth-ever postseason no-hitter. Only two other pitchers, Danielle Lawrie and Jennifer Spediacci, have thrown three no-hitters in a single season for the Huskies.
Plain struck out ten or more batters in ten games, including a 15-strikeout game. She struck out 14 twice, reaching that mark against Fordham in Regionals to tie the Washington record for postseason strikeouts in a game of seven or fewer innings. 24 times Plain did not allow a run: she allowed multiple runs to score just nine times in her 36 appearances.
This is Flores' first All-American award, coming after a year in which she broke the 20-home run mark for the first time. Flores launched 22 bombs this year, setting a Husky record with 11 in Pac-12 play. Only three Huskies ever have hit more homers in a single season than Flores. The junior also had 60 RBI, becoming the fifth Husky ever with multiple seasons of 60+ RBI.
Flores had 18 games with multiple RBI and four multi-home run games. That included Flores' second career multi-homer postseason game, making her the only Husky in school history with multiple career postseason games with multiple home runs. Flores now has eight postseason home runs in her career, one off the Washington record.
Alvelo has now been named an All-American each of the last two seasons. She moved to second in Washington history in strikeouts this year and led the Pac-12 with 268. Alvelo set a new career high in strikeouts in back-to-back games, with 15 against Florida before striking out 16 the very next day against Cal State Fullerton.
Alvelo struck out double digits in 12 times, giving her 28 double-digit strikeout games in her career, a mark only bested by Danielle Lawrie in Husky history. Only seven times in her 37 appearances did an opponent score more than one earned run against Alvelo. She is in the top five in Washington history in wins, complete games, and strikeouts and in the top three in the nation among active pitchers in all of those categories as well.
The Huskies will begin World Series play Thursday as they take on #6 Arizona at 9:00 am PT.
Make sure to follow Husky Softball on Twitter with the username @UWSoftball and on Instagram at uwsoftball.
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Players Mentioned
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