UH softball picked to finish second in WAC

Advertiser Staff

Hawai'i shortstop Kate Judd, a two-time Western Athletic Conference softball Player of the Year, has been tabbed by the conference as the preseason Player of the Year.

Fresno State was picked to win the conference with Hawai'i and Tulsa to finish second in a vote by the six conference coaches. Coaches could not vote for their own team; Fresno State received five first-place votes, while UH had one. The Rainbows also had two second-place votes and two third-place votes, while Tulsa had four seconds and one third.

San Jose State, Nevada and Louisiana Tech followed in the preseason ranking.

Judd was joined on the preseason all-WAC first team by UH first baseman Stacey Porter and outfielder Denise Dahlberg.

Judd, a senior from Australia, started in all 60 games last year for the Rainbows, leading the WAC in batting at .354. She had 13 doubles, 11 home runs and 35 RBIs.

Porter, a junior from Australia, led the WAC with 15 home runs and had a team-leading 47 RBIs.

Dahlberg, a sophomore from Arizona, batted .312 last season.

Fresno State's Jamie Southern, who led the nation with a 0.44 earned run average as a freshman last year, was picked as the Pitcher of the Year.

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