SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Hazyl Gray was named West Coast Conference Softball Player of the Year and Cairah Curran was named league Defensive Player of the Year to lead seven Santa Clara softball players picked to the All-WCC teams after a historic season that saw the Broncos win a program record-tying 30 wins this season.
 
Gray was named to the All-Conference first team along with Bailey McLaughlin.  Curran is joined on the second team by Robynn Balmediano, Hannah Edwards and Morgan Salmon, while Abigail Charpentier was named honorable mention. 
 
The seven honorees are the most in Santa Clara history, surpassing the six from last season and in 2015. As a team, the Broncos finished with nine WCC wins, the most in school history and was one win away in the final regular season series from making it to the NCAA Tournament. 
 
The all-conference voting and major awards were voted on by the five conference head coaches.
 
Gray is the first Bronco to be named WCC Player of the Year.  The left-handed hitting and throwing two-way standout batted .333 overall to lead the team along with hits (55), doubles (9), home runs (8), slugging percentage (.545) and was second in RBI (37) while starting in all 53 games.  In the circle, she went 4-5 with a save in 19 appearances while posting a 4.37 ERA.  It is her second All-Conference selection after being named honorable mention in 2023. 
 
In 16 league contests, the sophomore upped her game with a .353 batting average, six home runs, 19 runs batted in to go along with a .431 on-base percentage and .784 slugging.  Gray posted a 2-1 record against WCC opponents going 6 1/3 innings in a win against conference champion Saint Mary's and tossing 4 2/3 scoreless innings in relief against San Diego.   
 
Against LMU, the Fairfield, California native slugged three home runs in a game becoming the first Santa Clara player since at least 2000 to accomplish that feat. 
 
And in the series against Pacific, Gray was named WCC Player of the Week, going 9-for-13 with three home runs and 12 RBIs, claiming her first weekly conference award. 
 
Curran is the third Santa Clara player to be named the league's top defender, following Kelly Scribner who won the inaugural award in 2014 and Ashley Trierweiler in 2021. 
 
The freshman played in 52 of the 53 games, starting all at second base.  In WCC action, Curran was errorless on 80 chances.  The 80 chances led the team as she made 44 putouts and 36 assists while turning four double plays.  The Ewa Beach, Hawaii native's speed was not only showcased in her exceptional defensive range but on the base paths where she stole 31 bases to finish second in the conference.  In league play, she tied for the conference lead with 11 swipes. 
 
Curran batted .302 overall as well as in WCC action, scoring a team-high 38 runs, a mark good for second in the WCC. 
 
This is the first All-Conference selection for McLaughlin, who was named All-Academic for the third time, a day earlier.  The senior started in all 53 Bronco games with 47 of those coming at center field and committed just error all season.  She was second on the team with a .324 batting average in all games and hit .326 in league games.  McLaughlin swiped 18 bases with eight of them coming against WCC competition. 
 
Balmediano was inserted to the starting lineup midway through the season where she flourished, hitting .315 over 35 games.  She started the final 23 games including in all 16 league contests batting .326 and led the team with six doubles.  The sophomore had a walk-off RBI single against San Diego in the series opener.  It is her first All-Conference recognition. 
 
This is the second time Edwards has been named All-WCC second team.  She was also named honorable mention last season.  This spring, the redshirt junior set career highs in wins (13), ERA (3.01), appearances (29), starts (21), innings (123 1/3) and strikeouts (70) to cement herself as the ace of the staff.  She was at her best down the stretch as the Broncos were battling for a conference crown, tossing four complete game victories in her final seven league appearances.  The right-handed hurler was named WCC Pitcher of the Week for her efforts against Saint Mary's throwing a pair of complete game victories to lead the Broncos to a series win. 
 
Salmon repeats as a second team All-WCC selection.  The junior third baseman led the team in RBIs with 38 and finished second with six home runs while batting .284 in 53 games.  Her RBI total was second most in the WCC with one of those coming in walk-off fashion against Idaho State.  In league action, eight of her 13 hits went for extra bases including five doubles, two doubles and a home run.  In 49 chances, she did not commit an error playing the hot corner. 
 
Charpentier had a breakout season setting career highs across the board.  The junior batted .311 and had a team best .410 on-base percentage in 50 games.  She finished the season safely reaching base in 14 straight games.  In WCC action, Charpentier took it up a notch hitting .341, good for second best on the team, with a .460 on-base percentage and slugged at a .561 clip.  She hit a walk-off single against Saint Mary's that clinched the series. 
 
Sonja Garnett of Saint Mary's took home the Coach of the Year award.  Other Gaels who won the major awards include Sam Buckley as the Freshman of the Year and Odhi Vasquez as the co-Pitchers of the Year along with Jenna Perez of LMU who won for the third-straight season.

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