For the second time in three years, Platte County graduate Cacy Williams earned the Missouri Valley Conference player of the year honor.
Cacy Williams
The record-setting first baseman helped Wichita State win the league title outright with a bounceback senior season. She led the Shockers into the MVC’s postseason tournament over this past weekend, hoping to extend her career.
Williams, fellow Pirates product Kylie Guthier, North Platte’s Regan Nash and West Platte’s Abby Summers all earned big postseason honors recently.
The first in program history to win the player of the year honor twice, Williams batted .411 during MVC play this season with a .494 on-base percentage. She ranked in the top five of the league in average, slugging, runs scored, hits, RBIs and total bases.
Williams’ 14 home runs were most in the MVC.
In 2014, Williams started in 54 of 55 games after transferring from Emporia State, where she won the MIAA freshman of the year honors. The left-handed hitter then set school single season records in batting average (.424), slugging percentage (.812), on-base percentage (.531), total bases (138), runs scored (57), home runs (16) and RBIs (47) while leading the team or tying for the team lead in hits (72), total bases (138), walks (35), doubles (14) and triples (2).
Williams’ 48 RBIs this season set a new record, and her career record for home runs stands at 39.
Kylie Guthier
A 2013 Platte County graduate, Guthier made the All-MIAA first team as a utility player for her junior season. She batted .284 with 12 home runs and 29 RBIs, while also leading the Pittsburg State with 31 walks.
Guthier made the second team last year and now has 31 home runs for her career.
Regan Nash
A freshman after back-to-back Missouri Fastpitch Coaches Association all-state seasons at North Platte, Nash became the fourth in University of Missouri history to make the All-SEC freshman team. The speedy outfielder had stolen 18 bases ranked 12th in the league for that category when awards were announced last week.
Nash hit near .500 for the first two weeks of the season but ended up at .328 entering the postseason after 48 games.
Abby Summers
Summers made the All-Conference USA freshman team after her first season on the mound at Florida International. A standout right-hander last year for West Platte, she posted a team-best 12 wins, tying for 10th in the league, and also finished second on the Golden Panthers with a 3.03 earned run average, ninth-best in C-USA.
A two-time all-state selection, Summers ranks No. 2 in Missouri high school history for strikeouts.