Nine members from the Barton Community College softball team earned Division I All-KJCCC and All-Region VI post-season honors as announced last week.
Outfielder Halie Stoneking and utility player Sydni Williams headlined the selections with first team honors. Pitcher Jessica Morgan, third baseman Calli McConnell, outfielder Jaysa Anderson, and designated player Jenna Henderson were named to the second team. Garnering honorable mention distinctions were pitcher Kayla Beers, catcher Leslie Ramos, and outfielder Laci Dryden.
The Cougars placed 4th in KJCCC standings at 22-10, concluding Carson DuBose's first collegiate season as a head coach at 30-22.
Halie Stoneking – 1st Team Outfielder
Stoneking capped her Barton career with multiple top ten program achievements, as well as, leaving her name amongst the best in program history.
Batting a team second best .430 at mostly the top of the lineup all season, Stoneking also drew 11 walks towards a .476 on-base percentage leading to a program single season 4th most 66 runs on the season.
The sophomore from Milliken, Colorado, was even better in conference action batting a league 5th best .495 in finishing among the top ten in most offensive categories.
At one point Stoneking carried a 19-game hit streak, a top five historical Cougar achievement, scoring runs in 18 of the games in the stretch and led the squad with eleven games of three or more hits.
Leading the team with 14 fence clearers for the 6th most in program single season achievements, the all-around performer also stole 21 bases for 7th most in a season. Stoneking was second on the squad in slugging percentage (.791), hits (74), triples (4), and total bases (136) while ranking in the team's top five in doubles (12), runs batted in (50), and hit by pitch (6).
Donning the Cougar uniform for three seasons due to Covid exceptions, Stoneking' closes her Barton career as the leader in at-bats (450) and runs (148), second in doubles (34) and stolen bases (41), third in hits (152) and home runs (26), and within the top five of triples (7), RBI (100), and hit by pitch (12).
Sydni Williams – 1st Team Utility
A second team selection last year, Williams was one of two multi-dimensional players for the Cougars, spending much of the time at first base but also inside the center circle.
Batting a team fourth best .365, Williams was within the top five in most offensive categories including leading the squad with a program single season 4th most 26 walks.
For the season the sophomore had a .463 on-base percentage with a .730 slugging percentage, collected 54 hits including 15 doubles and team second best 13 home runs and 55 runs batted in including a pair of 6 RBI games.
Transferring to Barton from an initial season at Cowley College, Williams also received a Covid exemption season and made the most of two seasons in the Cougar uniform to make an impact on the career chart of third in runs batted in (103) and walks drawn (51) while ranking fifth in runs scored (92) and home runs (22).
In the center circle, the Wichita, Kansas, native appeared in eight games, starting six of those with a 4-2 record with a 3.89 ERA. In her 36 innings pitched, Williams struck out 24 for a 4.67 strikeout-per-seven innings average.
Jaysa Anderson – 2nd Team Outfielder
A first team selection her initial season, Anderson's sophomore campaign was arguably even better in collecting a hit in 45 of her 51 games to lead the Cougars in multiple categories including a program second best ever .462 batting average featuring a program record 30-game hit streak.
Anderson closed out her Barton career batting .625 in final seven games, having a multi-hit performance in each going 15-of-24 with two home runs and 11 runs batted in.
In addition, the Wichita, Kansas, native led the squad with an .830 slugging percentage, .486 on-base percentage, connecting for 79 hits and 5 triples for 142 total bases. Anderson also ranked second on the team with 17 doubles and third in runs scored (49), runs batted in (53), and home runs (12) while defensively committing just two errors in 51 games.
Jessica Morgan – 2nd Team Pitcher
A sophomore pitcher from Lewistown, Montana, Morgan had a 9-3 record with a 3.27 ERA in 19 appearances and 13 starts. In conference play Morgan's 39.1 innings of work produced a 5-1 record and a 2.31 ERA, striking out 49 in walking just 12.
In total of 75 innings in the circle, Morgan allowed 78 hits and 35 earned runs with 91 strikeouts and 29 walks for an 8.49 strikeout-per-seven innings, finishing her Barton career among the program's top eight with 234 strikeouts at a 9.37 per seven inning fanning.
Morgan also had 12 trips to the plate, producing four hits including a double and home run in driving four across the dish.
Calli McConnell – 2nd Team Third Base
McConnell solidified the hot corner all season long while being a mainstay in the heart of the lineup.
The freshman from Wichita, Kansas, launched a 13-game hit streak early in her Barton career with five multi-hit games driving in 28 runs in the stretch.
McConnell tied for the team lead with 18 run producing games, atop the squad's chart with 66 runs batted in for the fourth most run production in a program single season, before concluding the season on a five game .529 average hit streak.
Batting a team third best .393 overall, McConnell drove in runs behind her team third best 66 hits, fourth best 10 home runs, and connecting on 20 doubles for the fifth most two-bag hits in a single season of program history.
Jenna Henderson – 2nd Team Designated Player
Like Williams, Henderson was another multi-dimensional player for the Cougars, mostly for her being in the lineup each day for her at-bats but also manning first base when Williams was in the circle or spinning the sphere herself.
At the plate as the temperature and meaning of games increased, so did Henderson in the final month of the season with a team second best .431 average behind Anderson and a team leading 7 home runs and 24 runs batted in.
Overall Henderson batted .324 with a .694 slugging percentage with a team fourth best 13 doubles. The Salina, Kansas, native also belted 9 home runs, four coming in a consecutive stretch late in the season, drove in 36 runs and drew 18 walks for a .459 on-base percentage.
In the circle Henderson made 20 appearances, starting 18 in compiling a 7-10 record and 3.99 ERA in striking out 79 in a team leading 86 innings for a 6.43 strikeouts-per-seven.
Kayla Beers – Honorable Mention Pitcher
Beers led the team with 25 appearances, starting form nine and coming in relief in the others. Hurling a team second most 67 innings, Beers struck out 63 for a 6.58 strikeout-per-seven in completing the year at 6-4 with a 4.81 ERA.
A third year sophomore from the Covid exemption, the Terrell, Texas, native finished her career in the Barton circle top ten on the program list with 28 wins against 22 losses, pitching just shy of 298 innings with a 4.54 ERA with 256 strikeouts to rank top five of the program all-time achieves.
Beers also had the opportunity to step to the plate eight times in her finale season, making the most of "Sophomore Day" on April 16th against Colby delivering her first collegiate hit with a run producing double. Beers' lone other hit came eleven days later with a leadoff single helping her cause in an 11-4 victory over Dodge City.
Leslie Ramos – Honorable Mention Catcher
A freshman catcher from Grand Island, Nebraska, Ramos was the Cougars' main dish manager throughout the season.
Improving consistently throughout her initial collegiate season, Ramos was 8-of-16 with six RBIs in the last six games of the year, finishing at .330 with 8 doubles, 3 triples and home run in driving in 23 runs in her 44 games played.
Like many of her teammates throughout the year, Ramos also left her name on the Barton record book beginning April 5th by wearing the badge of honor for the 13th time of the year to set a program record, finishing the season getting plunked 17 times total in drawing to within two of the all-time career record.
Laci Dryden – Honorable Mention Outfielder
A freshman outfielder from Wichita, Kansas, Dryden spent time in and out of the lineup early in her initial collegiate season before moving permanently into the starting left field position for 41 of the team's 52 games.
Improving every month including a .435 average for the month of April, Dryden finished with a .327 percentage out of the No. 2 hole of the lineup with 37 hits, 10 of those doubles with 4 triples and 4 home runs in driving in 21 runs. Defensively Dryden committed just one error in 26 conference games, finishing with just 3 overall for a .923 fielding percentage.
TEAM IMPACTS
The post-season selections helped Barton to a record book impact year including scoring a program single game most 24 runs on April 30th against Northwest Kansas Technical College.
The Cougars batted a program 5th best .351 throughout the year for a history leading 119 doubles and 1.38 home runs per contest, drew a second most 175 walks, third best 8.04 runs and 7.50 RBI per game.
Led by Ramos' record breaking hit batsman total, the Cougars also had the dubious honor of leading the nation in the category for most of the year before settling for a third most 58 to shatter the program record in averaging 1.12 per contest.
