Y. star named Player of the Year

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The All-Mountain West Conference Softball awards, as selected by the league's six head coaches, were announced Wednesday in conjunction with the start of the MWC Softball Championship in San Diego. The championship begins today and runs through May 14.

BYU's Lauren Watson-Perry was named Player of the Year, while UNLV senior Jacque Kerrigan captured the Pitcher of the Year award. UNLV's Marissa Nichols garnered Freshman of the Year honors and Utah's Bryanne Durrence received the Sportsmanship award. UNLV's Lonni Alameda collected her first-ever MWC Coach of the Year honor.

Watson-Perry, a Castaic, Calif., native, is batting .438 with eight home runs, 33 RBI, 51 runs scored, a slugging percentage of .675, an on-base percentage of .486 and 12 stolen bases. In league play, she led the conference with a .415 batting average and ranked in the top-10 in on-base percentage (.456), runs scored (13), hits (22), total bases (30) and RBI (10). Defensively, Watson-Perry had a .969 fielding percentage.

Kerrigan, from Tucson, Ariz., is 26-13 on the year, with 176 strikeouts, and leads the MWC in innings pitched (232.2), wins (26), games started (37) and appearances (46). She also ranks in the top-five in four other pitching categories, including ERA (1.62, second), strikeouts (second), saves (five, second) and opposing batting average (.228, fourth). She was 10-1 in conference play, with three saves, a 1.26 ERA and posted an opposing batting average of .206 in 78.0 innings pitched. In the UNLV record books, Kerrigan is the career leader in appearances (163) and saves (11), and is third in wins (70). She also surpassed her own Rebel single-season marks in saves. Nationally, Kerrigan is currently tied for ninth in wins and saves. Kerrigan was also an MWC Pitcher of the Week honoree five times in the 2004 season.