By: Chris Turner
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi pitcher
Primrose Aholelei earned the second All-Southland Conference honor of her career on Monday, as she was named to the second team by the SLC softball coaches.
It is Aholelei's second consecutive all-SLC honor after she was named to the first team a year ago after her first season in the league. She also was named last year's Pitcher of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.
"This is a big deal," TAMU-CC coach
Kathleen Rodriguez said. "Our conference is filled with pitchers that were at several of the top statistical categories in the nation, Primrose being one of them. The fact that she has been recognized by the Southland Conference softball coaches as one of these leaders is both humbling and exciting. She has worked hard and been a team leader in all aspects of our program. We are extremely proud of Prim's efforts all year long."
Aholelei was among the conference leaders in every significant statistical category throughout the season. She finished the regular season first in the conference in strikeouts with 182 – which was 41 more than the next closest competitor – and she was first in strikeouts looking as well with 45.
The senior from Honolulu also was second in innings pitched (161.1), third in wins (15), fourth in opposing batting average (.205), fifth in fewest triples allowed (3), seventh in ERA (2.08), eighth in fewest doubles allowed (15) and ninth in saves (1). She was 8-6 with a 2.09 ERA in conference games with SLC highs in strikeouts (88) and innings pitched (94).
The top two teams in the league, McNeese and Southeastern, dominated the all-SLC teams. The two teams combined to fill nine of the 12 spots on the first team and six of the 12 on the second team. McNeese's Shaelyn Watson was named Pitcher of the Year, Alexia Dibbley was named Freshman of the Year and James Landreneau is Coach of the Year. The Hitter of the Year is Ka'Lyn Watson of Southeastern, while UIW's Victoria Altamirano is Player of the Year and Lamar's Shenita Tucker is Newcomer of the Year.
Click here to view the full All-Southland Conference teams.
Everyone will be in Hammond, La., beginning Tuesday for the start of the SLC tournament.
The Islanders finished 21-21 and 9-15 in the SLC. They are the No. 6 seed and will play No. 7 seed HCU at 1 p.m. Tuesday in a winner-take-all play-in game. The winner will move on to the double-elimination portion of the tournament and play No. 3 seed Nicholls later that day at 6 p.m. All games can be seen on ESPN+.
It is the third year in a row that the Islanders made the tournament under Rodriguez, who led the team to its first SLC tournament appearance since 2015 in 2022. It's also the second year in a row the Islanders will open the tournament, as they won the fist game last season 3-2 against Lamar. TAMU-CC then fell to eventual champion McNeese 2-1 and were eliminated a day later by Nicholls 1-0.
"This is such an exciting part of the year," Rodriguez said. "The team is feeling pretty good. They are excited about the conference tournament."
The Islanders took 2-of-3 from the Huskies during their series in Houston in late March. Aholelei pitched a two-hit shutout with nine strikeouts in a 7-0 victory in Game 1, then allowed just two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts in a 3-2 victory in Game 3.
The Huskies won the middle game 3-0. It was one of seven times in 24 games that the Islanders were shut out, highlighting the biggest concern as tournament time approaches.
"We talked a lot today about approach," Rodriguez said. "We have been pressing for a while now at the plate. We have been stressing, guessing and worrying at the plate. We are not doing what is most important – trusting our hands, all our hard work and most importantly, just playing! This week we are going to work hard and attack each pitch both offensively as well as defensively."
The Islanders had 14 hits in the 7-0 win against HCU, as
Kimane Rogron went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and her only home run of the season.
Monee Montilla,
Paolina Baez and Crystal Davilla each had two hits as well.
Montilla has been the Islanders' most consistent hitter during conference play, leading the team in batting (.327), slugging (.449) and on-base percentage (.476). She has twice as many walks (14) as the next closest person, and her 16 hits in SLC games are second behind
Taniece Tyson's 18.
Unfortunately for the Islanders, the offense has struggled since that 7-0 victory against HCU. They've scored just 15 runs in the 14 games since, and they've averaged just under five hits a game during the same time frame.
"Respecting the game, hustling and being 100 percent present every pitch, no matter our role, is something we've discussed," Rodriguez said. "Loving one another and leaving everything out on the field for our seniors is very important to this group. We get to do something not many do. The percentages of young women doing this at this level is so low. Reminding them of their awesomeness and who they are to their core is important as well."
