Big South Announces 2023 Softball Annual Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Longwood sophomore infielder
Jaden Pone (Hope Mills, N.C.) and Campbell redshirt-sophomore
Isabella Smith (Raleigh, N.C.) have been voted Big South Softball Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, by the league’s head coaches, it was announced this afternoon. In addition, Longwood head coach
Dr. Megan Brown was voted Big South Coach of the Year, while Campbell’s
Madilyn Gillespie (Bishop, Ga.) earned Freshman of the Year honors. Charleston Southern’s
Annah Junge (Ballwin, Mo.) was voted Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second consecutive year by the Big South’s sports information directors.
Pone finished the regular-season as the Big South’s leading hitter with a .426 average -- the league’s lone player batting at least .400 this year. She also leads the conference with 69 hits and eight triples, while ranking second with 32 stolen bases. A four-time Big South Player of the Week honoree in 2023, Pone is tied for third with 40 runs scored, is fourth with a .632 slugging clip and third with a .462 on-base percentage. She batted .452 in conference games to pace the circuit, hit three home runs against league foes -- including her first career home run that was a go-ahead grand slam against USC Upstate on April 1 -- and collected a 1.213 OPS in Big South action. Pone, who joins Radford’s
Melissa Pickel (1995, 1996) as the only players in Big South history to be voted Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year in consecutive seasons, collected five first-place votes and 18 points in the Player of the Year voting and finished ahead of Campbell’s
Claudia Ware (one first-place vote and 10 points) for the league’s top honor.
Smith is the first Campbell Camel to win Big South Pitcher of the Year honors. She leads the conference with 26 victories, 223 strikeouts, a .196 batting average against and 213.2 innings pitched, and went 26-9 with a 1.90 earned run average in 42 total appearances during the regular-season. Smith ranks second nationally in wins, fourth in innings pitched and seventh in strikeouts. She also tied for the league-lead with three saves, was tops with 31 starts and completed 18 games. Smith recorded double-digit strikeouts nine times in 2023 with a season-best 12 twice -- including against N.C. State in her 1-hit complete game victory over the Wolfpack on March 15. In Big South games, Smith was 11-1 with a 1.62 ERA and fanned 82 batters in 86.2 innings. She limited the conference opposition to a .196 hitting clip. Smith received five first-place votes and 18 points in the voting, ahead of Winthrop’s
Reese Basinger (two first-place votes and 10 points).
Dr. Brown earns her first Big South Coach of the Year award after leading Longwood to a share of the regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed in this week’s Softball Championship. Longwood tied for first in the league standings with a 15-5 mark and is 29-19 overall -- including two wins over Top 10 opponents (5-4 over No. 4 Florida State on Feb. 11, and 4-3 over No. 8/9 Duke on April 26). Dr. Brown’s squad is second in the conference in overall slugging (.415) and home runs (36), while ranking third with 66 stolen bases and 56 doubles. The Lancers enjoyed three winning streaks of at least five games and posted the most hits in Big South action with 165. Also in the conference season, Longwood was second with 100 runs, 21 home runs, 95 RBI, a .456 slugging percentage and 2.39 earned run average. Dr. Brown received five first-place votes and 18 points, ahead of Campbell head coach
Trena Prater (two first-place votes and 13 points).
Gillespie is the first Camel to be voted Big South Freshman of the Year since 2013 and the third overall. She finished the conference season with a Big South-best .491 on-base percentage, and was third in hitting against league members with a .413 clip. Overall, Gillespie ranks second on the squad with a .342 batting average to rank eighth among the Big South leaders, in addition to 17 walks and a .451 on-base average. A three-time Big South Freshman of the Week honoree, Gillespie had a nine-game hitting streak during the 2023 campaign and posted a 12-game reached base streak. She received three first-place votes and 13 points in the Freshman of the Year voting, just ahead of USC Upstate’s
Maddie Drerup (one first-place vote and 12 points).
Junge repeats as the Big South Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming the first back-to-back winner since Winthrop’s
Lisa Kingsmore in 2008 and 2009. Junge is a senior pitcher with a 4.0 GPA as a chemistry major, and finished the regular-season 19-7 with a 2.28 earned run average and 154 strikeouts.
The conference also announced the 2023 All-Conference, All-Freshman and All-Academic teams, which are listed below. The All-Conference and All-Freshman teams are voted on by the head coaches, while the All-Academic Team consists of one student-athlete from each institution that meets the criteria and is nominated and selected by the league’s sports information directors.
2023 BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE SOFTBALL AWARD WINNERS
First-Team All-Conference
OF Denver Lauer, Soph., USC Upstate
OF Claudia Ware, R-Sr., Campbell
OF Kasey Fava, Gr., Gardner-Webb
1B Madilyn Gillespie, Fr., Campbell
2B Jaden Pone, Soph., Longwood
SS Alyssa Henault, Soph., Campbell
3B Cori McMillan, Soph., Radford
C Casey Goguts, Jr., USC Upstate
P Isabella Smith, R-Soph., Campbell
P Reese Basinger, Soph., Winthrop
DP Peyton Darnell, Sr., USC Upstate
UTL Morgan Hess, Soph., Presbyterian College
Second-Team All-Conference
OF Lauren Fox, Jr., Longwood
OF Summer Johnson, Sr., USC Upstate
OF Lexie Roberts, Fr., Radford
1B Kelly Park, Sr., Longwood
2B Tiffany Domingue, Sr., USC Upstate
SS Lauren Taylor, Sr., Longwood
3B Korynna Anderson, Sr., Longwood (tie)
3B Delaney McDilda, Jr., Campbell (tie)
C Savannah White, Soph., Campbell
P Annah Junge, Sr., Charleston Southern
P Alyssa Kelly, Jr., USC Upstate
DP Lindsey Hunt, R-Jr., Campbell
UTL Maryanna Guy, Fr., Longwood
Honorable Mention All-Conference
Adrienne Visintine, OF, Sr., Gardner-Webb
Macy McCall, OF, 5th Year., Winthrop
Maddie Drerup, P, Fr., USC Upstate
Reggie Kanagawa, P, Sr., Longwood
Tyra Parker, OF, Soph., Campbell
All-Freshman Team
Madilyn Gillespie, 1B, Campbell
Maddie Drerup, P, USC Upstate
Maggie Chapin, P, Longwood
Annicka McLaughlin, 2B, Gardner-Webb
Maryanna Guy, UTL, Longwood
Lexie Roberts, OF, Radford
Makayla McClain, 2B Campbell
All-Academic Team
Claudia Ware, OF, R-Sr., Campbell
Annah Junge, P, Sr., Charleston Southern
Kasey Fava, OF, Gr., Gardner-Webb
Koryanna Anderson, 3B, Sr., Longwood
Kaitlyn Tucker, 2B, Jr., Presbyterian College
Laura Thompson, OF, Gr., Radford
Cassie Norris, 1B, Jr., USC Upstate
Reese Basinger, P, Soph., Winthrop
Player of the Year
Jaden Pone, 2B, Soph., Longwood
Pitcher of the Year
Isabella Smith, R-Soph., Campbell
Freshman of the Year
Madilyn Gillespie, 1B, Fr., Campbell
Coach of the Year
Dr. Megan Brown, Longwood
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Annah Junge, P, Sr., Charleston Southern