MSUB Softball Announces Season Awards (5/11/06)

BILLINGS, MT – Montana State University-Billings softball coach Sean McGary announced his 2006 individual award winners this week.  He handed out six awards to five different student-athletes.  All six awards were voted upon by the players.

The MVP was Christy Wankel, a senior outfielder from Great Falls, Mont.  She batted .313 for the season, scoring 16 runs and driving in 25 RBI to earn second team all-conference honors.  Wankel hit eight home runs to finish her career with 21, second-most in school history.  She broke numerous career school records during her senior campaign including games played, games started, at bats, hits, triples, RBI, total bases, and stolen bases.  Wankel was also given the Yellowjacket Award, the award given to the person who best represents being a student-athlete academically, athletically, and socially.

Rachel Quarnburg was the Offensive MVP.  The junior from Billings was an all-conference first team selection and was one of just four players in the Heartland Conference to bat over .400 this season, hitting .402.  Her .785 slugging percentage led the conference, and she tied for third in the league with 11 home runs.  Along with hitting for power, Quarnburg was one of the toughest outs in the conference.  She ranked second in the Heartland with a .484 on base percentage.

Aysha Maddox was named the team’s Defensive MVP.  The junior catcher from Richland, Wash., started 47 games behind the plate this season and had a .987 fielding percentage.  She was instrumental in handling the Yellowjacket pitching staff, which consisted of three freshmen.

Rebekah Tsatsa was selected as the Most Improved Player.  The freshman pitcher from Eagle, Idaho, started 13 games and made 17 appearances.  She posted a 6-8 record with a 3.97 earned run average. 

On a team comprised mostly of newcomers, the Newcomer of the Year was Stephanie Gosselin, a freshman utility player from Brentwood Bay, British Columbia.  Gosselin had a stellar second half of the season and finished second on the team with a .370 batting average.  She scored 16 runs and drove in nine RBI in 31 games en route to second team all-conference honors.

The Yellowjackets were 20-31 overall and 12-12 in the Heartland Conference this season.  It was the first year in the Heartland for the Yellowjackets.  Three Heartland Conference teams—Incarnate Word, St. Mary’s, and St. Edward’s—qualified for the NCAA Tournament.  The Yellowjackets swept four games from St. Edward’s late in the season and knocked Incarnate Word out of the conference tournament.  With a roster full of freshmen and newcomers, the Yellowjackets won 12 of their last 15 games.