STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford battled through adversity and injuries as the Cardinal showcased its resiliency throughout the 2016 season.
Despite the obstacles, Stanford (13-35, 0-24 Pac-12) produced a number of highlight moments including defeating No. 17/12 Missouri at the Mary Nutter Classic, a 4-1 showing at the Malihini Aloha Tournament in Hawaii and outstanding individual performances in Pac-12 play.
Among the individual highlights were Haley Snyder hitting the first home run in the history of Oregon's Jane Sanders Stadium, Molly Fowkes making a catch at UCLA that appeared on SportCenter's Top-10 plays and Kayla Bonstrom continuing to climb in multiple all-time offensive record categories in Stanford history.
ALL-REGION RECOGNITION
• Bessie Noll capped an impressive junior campaign by being named to the NFCA All-West Region Third team as an outfielder for the first time in her career. She hit .300 on the season and led Stanford with a .611 slugging percentage. Noll was outstanding defensively and led the Cardinal outfielders with five assists.
ALL PAC-12 CONFERENCE
• Kylie Sorenson earned All-Pac-12 Second Team honors, while Kayla Bonstrom claimed third-team accolades.
PAC-12 ALL-DEFENSE
• Jessica Plaza earned Pac-12 All-Defense recognition for the second consecutive season. She registered a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage for the third straight season. Plaza is one of two Stanford players all-time to record a perfect fielding percentage and the only player to do it in multiple seasons.
PAC-12 ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
• Carolyn Lee was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. She made 34 appearences, making 32 starts, and pitched 13 complete games. Lee was instrumental in keeping Stanford close in games throughout the season. She earned her first win against a top-25 team when she helped the Cardinal defeat No. 17/12 Missouri, 5-3.
PROGRAM RECORD IN ACADEMICS
• Stanford earned a program-record 11 Pac-12 All-Academic honors and led the conference with three first-team recipients. Stanford players also claimed three second-team awards, and its six first- and second-team honors are the most in the conference for the second straight season. Stanford surpassed the previous program-high set in 2010 with 10 academic honors.
• Lauren Bertoy (biomechanical engineering), Victoria Molina (psychology) and Bessie Noll (mechanical engineering) earned first-team honors, while Kayla Bonstrom (international relations), Kylie Sorenson (psychology) and Lauren Wegner (biology) earned second-team recognition.
• Whitney Burks, Arden Pettit, Jessica Plaza (human biology), Kaitlin Schaberg (management science and engineering) and Savannah Schulze were named to the honorable mention team.
• Bonstrom and Schaberg claimed the third Pac-12 All-Academic honors of their careers, while Bertoy, Noll and Sorenson earned their second awards.
ACADEMIC ACCOLADES CONTINUE
• Stanford was the only Pac-12 softball program to earn an NCAA Academic Progress Rate Public Recognition Award and register a perfect 1,000 multi-year APR score earlier this season. The Cardinal earned a program-best nine National Fastpitch Coaches Association honors during the fall.
STANFORD AWARD WINNERS
• Stanford players voted on awards for teammates and selected Kylie Sorenson as the Most Valuable Player and Bessie Noll as the Defensive Most Valuable Player. Carolyn Lee earned the Tough as Nails Award and the Highest GPA Award.
BONSTROM EXCELS ON FIELD AND IN CLASSROOM
• Kayla Bonstrom (international relations) finished the season strong on an eight-game hitting streak and accumulated 11 hits during that span. She led Stanford in 2016 in hits (44), doubles (12), triples (2), runs (28), total bases (75), and was second in batting average (.308) and RBIs (24).
• Bonstrom, a 2015 NFCA All-America Second Team selection, played in 215 of a possible 217 games throughout her career – making 213 starts. She finished career in the top-10 in Stanford history in batting average (5th, .372), doubles (5th, 55), home runs (7th, 30), RBI (T-5th, 177), slugging percentage (3rd, .622), walks (9th, 88) and putouts (3rd, 1255).
• Bonstrom missed Stanford's midweek game against Pacific (April 6) because she was presenting her senior thesis at the United States Military Academy Combating Terrorism Center at West Point conference on terrorism, insurgency and asymmetric conflicts.
• Bonstrom has exceled in the classroom and was a 2015 Capital One Academic Second Team All-American and All-District Softball Team District 8 selection. She was selected to the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) Interschool Honors Program in International Security Studies during her junior year to develop a senior thesis with the federal government related to national security. She's interested in working in national security upon graduation.
• Bonstrom was named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top-50 Watch List earlier this season. She was also selected as a Senior CLASS Award Top-30 finalist.
• Bonstrom was a force at the plate and led Stanford in every major offensive category throughout the 2015 season. She was named a NFCA Second Team All-American, NFCA All-West Region First Team at first base, All-Pac-12 First Team and a Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honorable mention.
• Bonstrom set the Stanford single-season slugging percentage record at .806 – becoming the first Cardinal player to break the .800 mark. She finished in the top-11 in multiple single-season categories in Stanford history including: batting average (5th, .439), home runs (T-5th, 13), RBI (T-7th, 54), doubles (11th, 16) and fielding percentage (T-2nd, .997). She was solid defensively, committing just one error in 381 chances.
FINISHING STRONG
• Kaitlin Schaberg finished her career strong registering at least one hit in five of her final seven games. She hit a career-high .268 in 2016 and stepped up late in the season with a move from second base to shortstop when starting shortstop Kylie Sorenson sustained an injury.
BREAKOUT SEASON
• Junior centerfielder Bessie Noll had a hot start to the season come to a halt when she was hit by a pitch March 5 and was sidelined by the injury. She made immediate contributions again when she returned to the field in center field April 6 against Pacific and returned to the batting lineup April 16 against Arizona.
• Noll led Stanford in batting average (.404), home runs (6), doubles (7), runs (18), walks (13), slugging percentage (.885) and on-base percentage (.536) through the first 18 games prior to her injury. She finished the year batting .300 with 27 hits, 22 runs, seven doubles, seven home runs and a .611 slugging percentage.
• Noll grew up playing baseball in Tokyo, Japan, and only played softball during the summers of her high school years.
LEE IMPRESSES IN DEBUT SEASON
• Freshman pitcher Carolyn Lee provided quality starts for the Cardinal throughout the season and consistently positioned Stanford within striking distance for victories.
• Lee made her Pac-12 debut at No. 4/7 Oregon and pitched well, holding the Ducks to five earned runs in 10.0 innings with six strikeouts.
STABILITY BEHIND THE PLATE
• Four-year starting catcher Jessica Plaza had quality senior campaign. She hit .267, producing 18 RBI, eight doubles, a triple, a home run, 19 runs and 13 walks. She missed the California and Arizona State series due to injury but returned for the final weekend against Washington.
• Plaza nearly earned a walk-off win for the Cardinal in the third game against Oregon State (April 3) when she hit an RBI-triple off the top of the right field wall – about six inches from clearing the fence – in the bottom of the seventh inning. Her hit scored a run and sent the game to extra innings, tied 2-2.
• Defensively, Plaza called her own games and did well to help guide a young pitching staff. She earned Pac-12 All-Defense recognition the past two seasons, registering a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage for the third consecutive year. Plaza is one of two Stanford players all-time to record a perfect fielding percentage.
STRONG SEASON CUT SHORT
• Shortstop Kylie Sorenson had a quality start to the season but had her season cut short due to an injury suffered in the series finale against Arizona (April 17). She led Stanford with a .339 batting average with 25 RBIs, eight home runs, five doubles, 26 runs, 20 walks and a .598 slugging percentage. She also contributed multiple highlight-worthy plays at shortstop.
NINE SIGN NATIONAL LETTERS OF INTENT
• Stanford has nine incoming freshmen during the fall of 2016. All have signed NLIs – six in the fall and three in the spring. Incoming freshmen include: Nicole Bauer, Teaghan Cowles, Kayler Detmer, Montana Dixon, Alyssa Horeczko, Hannah Howell, Kristina Inouye, Maya Jackson and Kiana Pancino.
MENDOZA NAMED ALL-CENTURY
• Mendoza is one of 30 softball players selected to the All-Century Team. She is one of the most accomplished Stanford softball players in program history and has had an impact on sports beyond the softball field. Mendoza was a four-time All-American at Stanford, a starting outfielder for the U.S. National Team from 2004-10 and won Olympic medals in 2004 (gold) and 2008 (silver).
• Mendoza has paved new paths for women in sports broadcasting, becoming the first female broadcaster in the booth for ESPN's College World Series, the first female analyst for an MLB game on ESPN and the first female analyst for Sunday Night Baseball. She also became the first female analyst in MLB Postseason history when she broadcasted the 2015 American League Wild Card Game. Mendoza moved into a full-time role on Sunday Night Baseball in 2016.
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG PLAYS
• Molly Fowkes entered the series finale at UCLA as a pinch hitter in the top of the fifth inning and had an immediate impact with a leadoff single up the middle on a 0-2 count. She made a diving catch in left field in the bottom half of the inning on a line drive dipping right in front of her. Her catch was the No. 3 play on the April 11 SportsCenter Top-10 Plays.
MOLINA SWINGS A BIG BAT
• Victoria Molina homered in three-of-five tournaments this season. Of her 21 hits this season, five were home runs, two were triples and two were doubles.
• Molina hit a huge three-run home run in the series-opener at UCLA that went over the Bruins new scoreboard in left field and landed well past the fence.
IN THE CIRCLE
• Sophomore Haley Snyder and freshman Carolyn Lee were the focal points in the circle. Snyder (7-14) held a 6.18 ERA in 2016, while Lee (6-21) held a 5.90 ERA. Sophomore Kaitlyn Lagattuta pitched some innings as relief.