National Player of the Year Top 3 Finalists Named

Auburn's Kasey Cooper; Florida Aleshia Ocasio; and Michigan's Sierra Romero will be the three players vying for the title of National Player of the Year when the award is handed out prior to the Women's College World Series.

Cooper, the SEC Player of the Year, boasts a .431 batting average with nineteen home runs and seventy-five runs driven in. Her .906 slugging percentage leads the SEC and her .591 on-base percentage was second in the conference. The 2013 National Co-Freshman of the Year, 2016 is the first time Cooper has reached the final stage of finalists for Player of the Year.

Ocasio, the only non-upperclassman of the bunch, posted an 0.65 ERA mark prior to yesterday's upset loss to Georgia, an appearance that gave her only her second loss of the season and increased her ERA to all of 0.77. Opponents hit just .183 against the sophomore hurler and she stands in the top ten nationally in five different categories.

Sierra Romero, now a three-time top three finalist for the award, is in the final season of a stellar career in the maize and blue. Three times the Big 10's Player of the Year, Romero ranks in the top ten nationally of four categories, including with her .470 batting average and 934 slugging percentage. She also boasts nineteen home runs and seventy-six to her own credit.

An original list of twenty-five finalists was released earlier in the season, a grouping that was then trimmed down to ten from which the final three vying for the award were selected.

All three players suited up for teams that earned top-four national seeds in the NCAA tournament.

The National Player of the Year will be announced on May 31st. The National Freshman of the Year award will also be handed out that day; finalists for that award are Ocasio's teammates Kelly Barnhill and Amanda Lorenz and Oklahoma's Shay Knighten.

National Player of the Year Top 10 Finalists Announced

The group of ten finalists for the 2016 National Player of the Year award have been announced, narrowing the list from the twenty-five finalists announced last month.

Twice-defending champion and likely NCAA #1 seed Florida has two representatives on the list, the only school who can boast that. Two other SEC schools, Alabama and Auburn, are represented by a single player each, as are Michigan; Minnesota; Notre Dame; Florida Atlantic; James Madison; and Louisiana-Lafayette.

Pitchers Delanie Gourley and Aleshia Ocasio represent the Gators as finalists - Ocasio leads the Gators with a 0.71 ERA and a 19-1 record. She's collected 127 strikeouts in 128 innings and allowed just fourteen extra base hits. Gourley sports an 0.76 ERA and an 18-3 record. She boasts more than 200 strikeouts of her own, while opponents are batting just .142 against her.

Auburn's Kasey Cooper - the SEC Player of the Year and likely national award front-runner - batted .435 on the year, with nineteen homeruns and seventy-three RBI. She led her team in five statistical categories, numbers that also included a .939 slugging percentage.

Michigan's Sierra Romero is one of just three seniors in the final ten. For her part, she is batting .485 on the season with sixteen homeruns, seventy-one RBI, and a .947 slugging percentage. She has earned forty-two walks on the year and scored sixty-six times.

Alabama senior outfielder Haylie McCleney; James Madison sophomore pitcher Megan Good; Minnesota junior pitcher Sara Groenewegen; Florida Atlantic junior pitcher Kylee Hanson; Notre Dame junior outfielder Karley Wester; and Louisiana-Lafayette's injured senior catcher Lexie Elkins round out the list of finalists.

Perhaps the most glaring omission from the ten finalists might be Washington's Ali Aguilar, who posts a .362/20/58 thus-far and boasts an .872 slugging percentage. She leads the PAC-12 in home runs, RBI, and slugging percentage.

The list of finalists will be narrowed down one more time, to the final three, on May 25, while the winner will be selected a week later prior the start of the Women's College World Series.

Top 25 Finalists Announced for Division II Player of the Year

The second-annual Division II National Player of the Year award will be handed out in 2016 and the top twenty-five finalists who will vie to receive it have been announced.

Twenty-two Division II programs are represented by at least a single player on the list, as well as fifteen conferences. Humboldt State with three and North Georgia with a pair were the only teams to place more than one player on the list of finalists.


Notable names on the list include national headline-grabbers Morgan Foley of Indianapolis and Hannah Perryman of Missouri-St. Louis, as well as the award's inaugural winner in 2015, North Georgia's Courtney Poole. The list is comprised of fourteen seniors; six juniors; and five sophomores.

The current list of twenty-five will be narrowed down to the top ten finalists on May 6, with the final trio named on May 12 and the National Player of the Year trophy being awarded on May 17.

The full list of finalists can be found below:

Stephanie Adkins	Pitcher	Saint Leo
Kaitlyn Bannister	Third Base	Alabama-Huntsville
Janessa Bassett	Outfield	Dixie State
Lyndsay Butler	Pitcher/Outfield	Wayne State (Mich.)
Morgan Foley	Pitcher	Indianapolis
Ally Foster	Utility	Bellarmine
Brooke Goad	Outfield	Southern Arkansas
Stephanie Hartness	Outfield	North Georgia
Haley Hodges	Catcher/Infield	Southern Indiana
Hanna Holland	Outfield	Humboldt State
Courtney Iacobacci	Outfield	Fairmont State
Makayla Kovac	Shortstop	Colorado Mesa
Lexi Loos	Outfield	Wayne State (Neb.)
Brenna Martini	Third Base	Adelphi
Katie Obemma	Pitcher	Humboldt State
Hannah Perryman	Pitcher	Missouri-St. Louis
Courtney Poole	Pitcher	North Georgia
Kiley Rusen	First Base	Valdosta State
Jessica Simmons	Second Base	SE Oklahoma State
Lacey Taylor	Catcher	West Texas A&M
Carley Tysinger	Pitcher	Catawba
Kelsey Vining	Outfield	Montevallo
Katelyn Vinson	Third Base	Midwestern State
Madison Williams	Pitcher	Humboldt State
Kat Zabielski	First Base	NYIT

Top 25 National Player of the Year Finalists Announced

The twenty-five players who will vie for the title of National Player of the Year have been announced; the list includes several no-brainer selections and a few that leave you scratching your head.

The list of finalists includes players representing twenty different schools and nine conferences. Twice-defending champions Florida are joined by Alabama, Florida State, Michigan, and James Madison in placing two players on the list.

The state of Florida placed five players on the list, including the pairs of Gators and Seminoles as well as ace pitcher Kylee Hanson of Florida Atlantic. The state of Louisiana placed three on the list, from three different schools, including representatives of McNeese State, Louisiana-Lafayette, and Louisiana-Monroe.

The group of finalists is comprised of nine seniors; eleven juniors; and five sophomores. Seven of the players in their final collegiate seasons were selected in the NPF Draft earlier this month.

Seven players find themselves a finalist for the second season in a row, including UCLA's Allexis ("Chip") Bennett; Louisiana-Lafayette's Lexie Elkins; James Madison's Megan Good; Minnesota's Sara Groenewegen; Alabama's Haylie McCleney; Michigan's Sierra Romero; and Notre Dame's Karley Wester.

Some big names and perennial award winners are notably absent from the list of finalists, including Oregon's Cheridan Hawkins; Georgia's Alex Hugo; Missouri's Sami Fagan; UCF's Shelby Turnier; and Florida's Kelsey Stewart.

The full list of finalists can be found below:

Ali Aguilar	Infield	Washington
Allexis Bennett	Outfield	UCLA
Jessica Burroughs	Pitcher	Florida State
Kasey Cooper	Third Base	Auburn
Koral Costa	Outfield	Oregon
Lexie Elkins	Catcher	Louisiana-Lafayette
Cortni Emanuel	Infield	Georgia
Jailyn Ford	Pitcher	James Madison
Megan Good	Pitcher	James Madison
Delanie Gourley	Pitcher	Florida
Sara Groenewegen	Pitcher	Minnesota
Kylee Hanson	Pitcher	Florida Atlantic
Sierra Lawrence	Outfield	Michigan
Sydney Littlejohn	Pitcher	Alabama
Haylie McCleney	Outfield	Alabama
Kelsey Nunley	Pitcher	Kentucky
Aleshia Ocasio	Pitcher	Florida
Paige Parker	Pitcher	Oklahoma
Erika Piancastelli	Catcher	McNeese State
Alex Powers	Infield	Florida State
Rochelle Roberts	Outfield	Louisiana-Monroe
Sierra Romero	Infield	Michigan
Lindsey Stephens	Outfield	Texas
Karley Wester	Outfield	Notre Dame
Morgan Zerkle	Outfield	Marshall