Juarez Earns Third-Consecutive MVP Honor at Softball Postseason Banquet – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/4/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
COLUMBUS, Ohio The Big Ten champion Ohio State softball team celebrated its 2007 season and handed out 11 team awards Sunday evening during its annual postseason banquet in Ohio Stadium. Senior Jamee Juarez was named the team’s most valuable player for an unprecedented third-consecutive year, while freshman Sam Marder became the first freshman to be named the Buckeyes’ offensive player of the year.
Linda Kalafatis, the 2007 Big Ten Coach of the Year, and her staff passed out the team awards and recapped a season that saw the Buckeyes go 40-18 overall, win the school’s second Big Ten championship and first Big Ten tournament title. In its fifth NCAA tournament appearance, Ohio State was given a home NCAA Regional for the second time in program history and made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances for the first time.
Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson) and her senior classmates Lauren Daykin (Melbourne, Australia/Manatee C.C., Fla.), captain Christina Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson), Nycole Koyano (Walnut, Calif./Walnut) and Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) were honored for helping lead the Buckeyes to 146 wins during the last four years, which rank fifth all-time in program history among the winningest classes.
Juarez, who went 21-9 during the season and batted .290 with 31 runs batted in, was also named the team’s pitcher of the year for the second time in her career. A four-time All-Big Ten honoree and a first-team all-region selection as a senior, Juarez set five OSU career pitching records, four single-season records and ended her career with 127 RBI, which rank third in school history.
A first-team All-Big Ten and all-region selection, Marder (Calabasas, Calif./Calabasas) led Ohio State in batting average (.359), doubles (12), home runs (10), RBI (49), slugging percentage (.647), on base percentage (.520) and drew a school-record 44 walks. Her RBI total is the highest ever by an OSU freshman and her 10 homers tied the OSU rookie record.
Koyano was named the team’s defensive player of the year after making the switch to shortstop midway through the season from second base, where she started the previous three seasons. Koyano is also the first Buckeye to lead the team in runs scored and stolen bases all four years.
Douglas, who accepted the responsibility of serving as team captain by herself, took home the Coaches’ Award and the Buckeye Power Club Award. She had the best season of her career, batting .303 with 44 hits and a .373 on base percentage on her way to third-team All-Big Ten recognition. Sophomore Courtney Pruner (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) was named the most improved player after upping her batting average from .242 as a freshman to .336 this season, including a team-best .415 mark in Big Ten games that earned her first-team all-conference honors.
Freshman Whitney Cooper (Barstow, Calif./Barstow) was given the Buckeye Spirit Award and sophomore Kim Reeder (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame H.S.) was named the scholar-athlete of the year. Juarez earned the most improved scholar-athlete award.
2007 OHIO STATE SOFTBALL POSTSEASON TEAM AWARDS
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Jamee Juarez
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Sam Marder
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Nycole Koyano
PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Jamee Juarez
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Courtney Pruner
COACHES’ AWARD: Christina Douglas
BUCKEYE POWER CLUB: Christina Douglas
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Sam Marder
BUCKEYE SPIRIT AWARD: Whitney Cooper
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Kim Reeder
MOST IMPROVED SCHOLAR-ATHLETE: Jamee Juarez
