Lady Cats clean up in All-District awards

[adning id=”33097″]

The All-District awards for District 15-5A were announced recently. After a great season in which the Sulphur Springs Lady Cats went 24-4-2, a number of their players were recognized for the great contributions they made.

Superlative Awards

Two Lady Cats walked away with superlative awards, playing huge roles for the Lady Cats. Sulphur Springs’ ace Crimson Bryant was named the MVP of the district, after having a stellar season in the circle.

Bryant had as good of a season as anybody in the state, racking up a 21-2 record in 160 innings of work. In her 160 innings Bryant allowed just 16 earned runs, giving her an incredible ERA of 0.10. She also struck out a jaw-dropping 346 batters (striking out over 2 batters per inning on average). 

Perhaps even just as impressive was her WHIP, a stat that reflects how many walks and hits you allow per nine innings. Bryant allowed 66 hits and 30 walks, giving her a WHIIP of 0.60. 

Also taking home a superlative award was Kinz Smallwood, who was named Newcomer of the Year. Smallwood played a huge role offensively for the Lady Cats, arguably being their best and most consistent hitter on the season.

Smallwood led the team in almost every offensive statistic, including average, OBP, OPS, slugging, hits and singles. In 85 at bats and 97 plate appearances Smallwood had an incredible slash line of .447 average, .515 OBP, .659 slugging, giving her an OPS of 1.174. 

She also led the team with 38 hits and 26 singles. Smallwood also had eight doubles, two triples and two homers, and drove in 21 runs. The newcomer of the year came in to score 20 times and played in all 30 games.

First Team All-District 

Sulphur Springs was also well represented on the First Team All-District list, with seniors Addison Caddell and Parris Pickett both being named, as well as junior Jadyn Harper. 

Pickett was the shortstop and five-hole hitter in the Lady Cats lineup, batting right in front of Smallwood, creating one of the most dangerous five-six combo’s of any lineup in the state. Pickett led the few major Caterogies that Smallwood didn’t, leading the team with three triples and three homers, as well as RBI with 24 and runs scored with 27.

Pickett finished second in every other major category, hitting for an impressive .382 average, as well as a .450 OBP, a .618 slugging and an OPS of 1.068. Pickett also played great defensive at shortstop, making huge contributions even on the rare occasions when her bat wasn’t there.

[adning id=”33207″]

Caddell, who signed with the University of Texas at Dallas before the season started, was the third baseman and third hitter in the Lady Cats’ order. Not only was she one of the best in the state both offensively and defensively, Caddell served as a vocal leader and a veteran presence for Sulphur Springs.

The UTD signee hit .322 and had an impressive .427 OBP. That with a .460 slugging gave Caddell an OPS of .887 on the season. The Lady Cats’ senior also had seven doubles, one triple and one home run to go along with playing stellar defense at the hot corner.

Harper played a huge role for Sulphur Springs as well, batting leadoff and playing centerfield. As the leadoff hitter, Harper led the team both in plate appearances (109) and at bats (92). She also led the team with 17 walks, constantly giving the team a speedy runner on the base paths.

Harper hit a strong .270 average and had an OBP of .341. With 25 hits on the year, Harper had four doubles, one triple and one home run. Not only was she consistent on the offensive end, but also did a great job patrolling in centerfield.

Second Team All-District

Sophomore Reese Ragan was the lone Lady Cat to earn Second Team honors, doing so as the designated player. Ragan was also a very consistent hitter for Sulphur Springs, doing so from the two-hole for a majority of the year.

Ragan finished the year with a .311 average in 74 at bats and 89 plate appearances. The Lady Cat’s first baseman also had six doubles on the season and had 20 combined RBI and runs scored. 

Honorable Mention 

The awards hardly stopped there, as the Lady Cats had three other players who were recognized as honorable mentions, including Emerson Thompson, Tia Nash and Anahi Velasquez. Thompson was the Lady Cats’ go-to courtesy runner and did a great job on the base paths, coming in to score on 17 occasions.

Nash was a player who didn’t get a ton of at bats in the early go, but saw more and more action as the season went on. Despite finishing the season with just 39 at bats, Nash hit an impressive .308 and scored 10 times, while driving in nine runs.

Velasquez was the catcher for Sulphur Springs and did an excellent job behind the plate. Velasquez also had came up huge at the plate in a number of instances, including driving in a pair of runs to break a scoreless tie in the bottom of the 5th in their opening Bi-District win.

Academic All-District 

Players weren’t just recognized for their impressive work on the field, but also inside the classroom. The Lady Cats had seven players who were named Academic All-District, including:

Harper

Thompson

Caddell

Pickett

Nash

Kinley Friddle

Karis McGary

[adning id=”33207″]