LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced the student-athletes chosen for this season’s quartet of major NFCA NWAC end-of-the-season awards.
Mt. Hood Community College’s Sadie Guyette was voted the 2026 NFCA Player of the Year and Lower Columbia College’s Ava Eib was selected NFCA/Portolite Pitcher of the Year. Walla Walla Community College’s Faith Hickman earned Diamond Sports/NFCA Catcher of the Year honors, while Clackamas Community College’s Brooklyn Van Renselaar collected the New Balance/NFCA Golden Shoe award. All four earned NFCA NWAC All-America honors last week.
Guyette helped Mt. Hood go 49-7 and capture its eighth Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) softball championship — and third title in the last five seasons — with back-to-back victories over No. 2 seed Lower Columbia on Sunday. The freshman third baseman was 3-for-4 in those championship games, including 2-for-3 with a double, homer and three RBI in game one that allowed the top-seeded Saints to force a winner-take-all second contest. For the season, Guyette hit an NWAC-best .584 with 84 runs (second), 26 doubles (first), 27 home runs (fourth) and 136 RBI (first). She also led all NWAC players in hits (104), total bases (213) and on-base percentage (.626), ranked second in slugging (1.197) and third in plate appearances (215).
Sophomore Eib was part of one of the most potent pitching staffs this season for NWAC runner-up Lower Columbia (47-7), ranking first in the league in wins (23), ERA (1.84), shutouts (eight), opponent batting average (.193), strikeouts (248) and strikeouts per seven innings (10.85). She delivered just short of half of the Red Devils’ victories and 50 percent of their innings (160), compiling a 0.96 WHIP and 6.3 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 25 starts and 31 appearances, which included 18 complete games. She was also named the 2026 NWAC Rawlings Gold Glove pitcher last week.
Hickman was one of seven players that hit .400 or better this season for the (31-15) Warriors, batting .476 with 62 runs, 68 hits, 15 doubles, 21 homers, 77 RBI, 10 stolen bases and 19 walks. The freshman ranked third in the NWAC in homers and slugging percentage (1.035), fourth in RBI and fifth in total bases (148). She caught three of the five runners who attempted to steal against her and participated in three double plays on defense.
Speedy freshman outfielder Van Renselaar led the NWAC with 47 steals in 50 attempts on the league’s top stolen base team (146 steals). She had 11 games with multiple steals this year for the (32-22) Cougars, including seven games with two and three contests with three. Van Renselaar swiped a season-best four bases in the first game of a doubleheader against Clark on March 15.
NFCA-member head coaches nominate and vote for NWAC All-Americans. All major awards are selected and voted on by the full NWAC head coach membership.
2026 NFCA NWAC Major Awards
NFCA Player of the Year: Sadie Guyette, Mt. Hood Community College
Portolite/NFCA Pitcher of the Year: Ava Eib, Lower Columbia College
Diamond Sports/NFCA Catcher of the Year: Faith Hickman, Walla Walla Community College
New Balance/NFCA Golden Shoe: Brooklyn Van Renselaar, Clackamas Community College
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