Four athletes voted 2018 softball captains

PROVO, Utah — Seniors Caitlyn Alldredge, Briielle Breland, Alexa Strid and junior Libby Sugg have been voted captains by their teammates for the 2018 BYU softball season.

“As coaches, we completely support the team’s choice for captains,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “We have a great set of team captains that not only have maturity, but experience as well. They are great natural leaders.”

The Cougars have played without captains for years, but the coaching staff believes the captains’ presence will help the team play decisively and freely, as well as create a more player-driven team.

A NFCA All-Pacific Region First Team selection, Alldredge was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year and earned All-WCC First Team honors. She started every game in 2017 at third base and improved her batting average from .250 in 2016 to .344 this past season.

“Our team meshes really well and we all love to play and have fun,” Alldredge said. “I’m excited for games to start and for people to see how good of a team we really are!”

Breland brings two years of experience at Grand Canyon University and earned All-WCC Second Team honors in her first year as a Cougar. An NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete, Breland was also named to the WCC Commissioner’s Silver Honor Roll. She is expected to start at second base this season.

“I think each captain received votes for different reasons and when you put all of the captains together, we are able to draw on each other’s strengths and create a great dynamic to help lead the team,” Breland said.

A seasoned veteran as well, Strid started all 59 games at shortstop in 2017. She earned All-WCC First Team honors for the second year in a row. Strid also recorded 32 RBI, 10 doubles and five home runs on the year.

“Our team has worked so hard this offseason,” Strid said. “I am super excited to see what we can do this year and where we will be able to improve.”

As a sophomore catcher last season, Sugg earned NFCA All-Pacific Region First Team honors and was named to the All-WCC Second Team. She had a team-best nine games with three or more RBI. Sugg also led the team in RBI and home runs with 56 and 13, respectively, while hitting .356.

“Although we lost some amazing seniors, our new and returning players and the additions to our coaching staff give us the potential to have our best season yet,” Sugg said. “This will be our toughest competition to date and I believe we are ready for it!”

Eakin emphasized that there are great leaders on the team who are not captains. Each player is important and Breland concurred:

“All of our players bring something to the table that will be a key in our overall success,” Breland said. “As long as we’re committed and do our jobs, I think our team will have one of our best seasons this year.”