LOUISVILLE, Ky. – One hundred and fifteen student-athletes from across the country were revealed as part of the 2023 Tucci/NFCA Division II Player and Pitcher of the Year watchlist.
New in 2023, the list is broken down into the eight NCAA Regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West) with up to 15 student-athletes represented in each region. The list is compiled and the award is voted on by the elected members of the NFCA Division II All-American Committee with one head coach representing each of the eight NCAA regions. To be eligible, a student-athlete’s head coach must be a member.
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Headlining the list are 23 returning NFCA All-Americans, eight from the first team, including 2022 Player of the Year Kayson Boatner from Anderson University. In all, the group consists of 81 programs from 20 different conferences.
Voted on by the NFCA’s Division II All-American Committee, the 2023 Tucci/NFCA Player and Pitcher of the Year will be announced on June 1. All student-athletes are eligible for the end-of-the-season award and do not have to be on this list to be considered.
The Player of the Year award was created in 2015 to honor the outstanding athletic achievements among softball student-athletes throughout NCAA Division II. In 2019, the Association expanded the award to include a Player and Pitcher of the Year.
Past winners of the award are Boatner, Roger State’s Andrea Morales (Pitcher / 2022), West Texas A&M’s Shanna McBroom (Player / 2021), Saint Anselm’s Morgan Perry (Pitcher / 2021), LIU Post’s Julia Seader (Player / 2019), Grand Valley State’s Allison Lipovsky (Pitcher / 2019), North Georgia’s Kylee Smith (2018), Minnesota State’s Coley Ries (2017), Wayne State University’s Lindsay Butler (2016) and North Georgia’s Courtney Poole (2015). The award was not presented in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) is the professional organization for fastpitch softball coaches. Known for its highly-regarded All-Region and All-America awards, the NFCA also educates and supports softball coaches on a variety of different levels: from podcasts to a comprehensive drills database, to in-person events and a National Convention.
Learn more about the NFCA and consider joining over 6,700 coaches today.
