To top off a strong season, five members of the UCSD softball team received All-California Collegiate Athletic Association honors. Seniors Kim Aggabao and Amy Mettee and junior Breanne Cope were selected to first team, and junior Jamie Hurst and sophomore Desiree Franciscus both made second team.
Aggabao, a co-captain who played shortstop and second baseman, was selected as the CCAA’s Most Valuable Player of the year, the first time a Triton has ever received this honor for softball.
Aggabao led the league with a .411 batting average, and fell just short of the all-time school record of .415, set by Erin Bridges in 2000. Aggabao led the league in doubles with 23, also setting a school record. Playing in all 56 of the team’s games this season, Aggabao led UCSD with 38 RBIs, her second consecutive year knocking in the most runs.
Aggabao also touched more bases than any other Triton, at 104, finished the season with a slugging percentage of .638, and scored 32 runs. She blasted all four of her collegiate home runs this year and also played solid defense, turning in a .948 fielding percentage.
In addition to her CCAA MVP honor, Aggabao earned first-team honors for the third consecutive year and will leave UCSD in the top-six in each of the six categories of all-time UCSD softball records.
Joining Aggabao in first-team honors is fellow co-captain Mettee. Mettee will be leaving quite a legacy behind at UCSD, exiting with the lead in five records categories, as well as two second-place spots. She ended the year batting .309 and led the team with two triples, 45 runs and 22 stolen bases. Mettee’s all-time first-place stats include 256 hits, 48 doubles, 18 home runs, 162 runs and 544 assists. She will graduate from UCSD as the all-time second-best in both triples and stolen bases, with 16 and 70, respectively. This is Mettee’s fourth selection to the all-CCAA team, earning second-team honors her freshman year and earning a spot on the first team for the next three years.
Left fielder Cope rounded out UCSD’s representation on the first team, marking her first all-CCAA appearance of her career. Cope’s .313 batting average was third on the team, and she led UCSD with five home runs for the season. She had 19 RBIs and 27 runs, while knocking out 11 doubles. Her .507 slugging percentage was the second highest on the team.
Catcher and first baseman Hurst made it onto the all-CCAA second team, after receiving an honorable mention last year. Hurst finished in a tie for the highest fielding percentage among players who played in every game, with a .975. She had 50 hits on the season, four of them home runs and 12 more doubles. Hurst had 36 RBIs against 27 runs, a slugging percentage of .461 and rounded 76 total bases.
Fellow first-time all-CCAA member second baseman Franciscus joined Hurst with second-team honors this year.
Franciscus was second on the team with a .324 batting average, and her four home runs tied Mettee and Hurst for second-best for UCSD.
She scored 32 times while bringing in 27 fellow Tritons and finished with 10 doubles. Franciscus’ 77 total bases were third on the team, while she was in fifth place for her .453 slugging percentage.
UCSD ended the season with a record of 29-27, missing a Division II playoff berth after a difficult final couple weeks of the season.
