Ashton White Leads Army Black Knights in Patriot League Softball Awards

Ashton White was named the Patriot League softball player of the year, one of two Army Black Knights to earn superlative awards.

The other was Army coach Jen Consaul, who was named the league’s coach of the year.

Army clinched the regular-season title last weekend and will be the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament, which starts on Thursday at West Point, N.Y.

White had an incredible season for the Black Knights and became the fifth player in program history to earn the honor and the first since Kasey McCravey did it in 2016.

Why Ashton White Won the Award

She was named the preseason played of the year earlier this season and lived up to the billing by leading the Black Knights in just about every offensive category. She slashed .381/.427/.545 with a .972 OPS. White also had 67 hits, 31 runs, 12 doubles, 18 extra-base hits, 38 RBI and 14 walks.

White was also named to the all-Patriot League first team for the third time.

Consaul earned coach of the year honors for the first time and became the third Army coach to claim the award. She guided the Black Knights to a 16-2 record in league action, which set a program record for most conference wins in a single season. The previous high of 15 wins was set in both 2004 and 2010.

Army West Point led the way with nine selections, while Lehigh had six and Boston University had five. Bucknell and Colgate earned two selections apiece, while Lafayette and Holy Cross each had one.

Two other Black Knight were named to the first team — infielder Taylor Brown and pitcher Katelyn Flanders.

Brown led Army with 40 runs and finished the regular season with a .373 batting average, second only to Brown. She also led the Black Knights with a .436 on-base percentage and 18 walks.

Flanders finished with a 2.22 ERA, second-best in the Patriot League. She struck out 84 and held opponents to a .209 batting average. She has a record of 11-3 going into the tournament.

Several Army players were named to the second team. The included outfielder Annie Christiana, outfielder Sienna Tepley, designated player Caitlyn Newburn, catcher Emma Murchison, at-large selection Maaika Dones and pitcher Breanna Izzo.