Softball | 5/20/2016 9:12:00 AM

The 2016 Central Washington University softball season will go down as the greatest season in program history as the team became the first Great Northwest Athletic Conference school to advance to the NCAA Division II West Super Regionals after winnings the West Regional Tournament in Azusa, Calif.
 
The club finished the season 42-17, which set the record for most wins in a season.  The team went 18-10 within conference and won the GNAC regular and tournament championship.
 
The Wildcats started the season 12-1 before starting conference play.  A trip to Las Vegas started the season off as the Wildcats defeated two ranked teams, leaving Sin City with a 4-1 record.
 
The team made a six-game California swing where they played Academy of Art, Domincan, and Notre Dame De Namur, where the team went 6-0 and outscored their opponents 37-8.
 
The team opened an eight-game home stand in early March, which also included the beginning of their GNAC schedule.  The Wildcats hit a bit of a rough patch going an even 4-4 at home and held an 11-7 record in the month of March before heading to Turlock, Calif. to compete in the Tournament of Champions against some of the best teams from the West Region.
 
The Wildcats went 4-2 in Turlock with wins over Azusa Pacific, Cal State San Bernardino, San Francisco State and Cal State East Bay.
 
The successful trip spearheaded the Wildcats to finish the final 12 games of the conference schedule with a 9-3 record and a GNAC regular season championship.
 
The Softball team entered the GNAC Tournament as the top seed and after losing the opening game of the tournament; they became the first team in GNAC history to win the conference tournament after entering the loser's bracket.  They won four straight contests, all elimination games, to capture the 2016 GNAC Tournament crown.
 
On May 2, the softball team was selected as the #2 seed in the NCAA Division II West Regional Tournament and headed to Azusa, Calif.  to compete for a spot in the Super Regionals.  After defeating Dixie State in the opening round, the Wildcats lost to host Azusa Pacific and faced elimination going forward.  Just like the GNAC Tournament, the Wildcats won the remainder of their games facing elimination to advance to Super Regionals.
 
Despite losing to fifth-ranked and top seeded, Humboldt State in the Super Regionals the Wildcats had a lot to be proud of.
 
 
As a team, the 2016 team set school records in the following categories:
 

• Batting average -- .339
• Games played – 59
• Doubles – 79
• Runs scored – 359
• Hits – 572
• RBI – 318
• Total bases – 792
• Stolen bases – 104
• Sacrifice flies – 24
• Saves – 6
• Wins – 42
• Highest fielding percentage -- .969
• Lowest stolen base against percentage -- .517
• Most putouts – 1178
• Fewest stolen bases against – 15

 
Team Single Game Records:
 

• Most hits – 22
• Most stolen bases – 6

 
 
In addition to the team records there were a few individual records broken in 2016.
 
Single Season Individual Records:
 

• Games Started – 59 (6 players)
• Most at bats – 213 (Kailyn Campbell)
• Most doubles – 18 (Austin Wilkerson)
• Stolen bases – 22 (Rachael Johnson)

 
Individual Game Records:
 

• Most hits – 5 (Sammy Morris)
• Stolen bases – 3 (Sammy Morris)

 
 
Post Season Awards
 
 
The Wildcats also landed five individuals on the All-GNAC Team, and won two specialty awards.
 

• Mike Larabee – Head Coach of the Year
• Kiana Wood – Pitcher of the Year/First Team
• Kailyn Campbell – Unanimous First Team
• Austin Wilkerson – Unanimous First-Team
• Celine Fowler – Second Team
• Alexa Olague – Honorable Mention

 
National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Region Team
 

• Kailyn Campbell – First Team
• Austin Wilkerson – Second Team

 
Division II Conference Commissioners Association All-Region
 

• Kailyn Campbell – First Team
• Austin Wilkerson – First Team
• Celine Fowler – Second Team

 
Division II Conference Commissioners Association All-America Team
 

• Kailyn Campbell
• Austin Wilkerson