Ricketts, Li`ili`i, Coolen Earn WAC Awards; Eight Named All-WAC - Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL

Ricketts, Li`ili`i, Coolen Earn WAC Awards; Eight Named All-WAC

LAS CRUCES, N.M.—(Hawaii Athletics) Senior pitcher Stephanie Ricketts earned her third-straight Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year award; rookie Leisha Li`ili`i was voted WAC Freshman of the Year and Bob Coolen earned his third WAC Coach of the Year honor. In all, eight Rainbow Wahine earned all-WAC honors. Makani Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu, Jessica Iwata, Kelly Majam, Sarah Robinson, and Ricketts were all named to the first team, while Alexandra Aguirre, Kaia Parnaby and Li`ili`i were all selected to the all-WAC second team.
 
Ricketts, a senior righthander from San Jose, Calif. (Archbishop Mitty HS), became the first Rainbow Wahine in program history to earn three pitcher of the year honors. In the WAC this year, she posted a 12-1 record with a 1.07 ERA with four shutouts while holding opponents to a .172 batting average. She racked up 79 strike outs in conference action. In four years, Ricketts has compiled a 46-9 WAC record. She was named WAC Verizon Pitcher of the Week five times this season and 12 times in her career. Overall in 2012, she has a 27-3 record with a 1.09 ERA with 211 strike outs in 198.2 innings pitched. Last season, she broke the UH career record for strike outs and this year, she added UH records in wins, shut outs, appearances, starts and innings pitched to her resume. Ricketts earned second team all-WAC honors as a freshman and has been named to the first team the last three seasons. It is the sixth time that a Rainbow Wahine pitcher has won the award.
 
Li`ili`i, a designated player from Kane`ohe, O`ahu (Castle HS), posted a .305 batting average in WAC games this season with four doubles, three home runs and 12 RBI. Overall, she has started all 48 games and second is on the team with 36 RBI and third on the team with a .331 batting average (43-for-130). Li`ili`i was named WAC Hitter of the Week for March 5-11 and was selected to the all-WAC second team. Li`ili`i is the sixth Rainbow Wahine to earn the award--including teammates Ricketts (2009) and Majam (2010).
 
Coolen earned his third WAC Coach of the Year honor in his career after leading his team to its fourth WAC regular-season title and the top seed in the 2012 WAC Tournament. In WAC play, the Rainbow Wahine went 17-3 and led the conference in slugging percentage, runs, hits, RBI, home runs, total bases, plate appearances, wins, opponent batting average, strikeouts, hits allowed, runs allowed and home runs allowed. It is his fourth overall conference Coach of the Year honor as he earned one with the Big West in 1994.
 
Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu, a first baseman from Mililani, O`ahu (Mililani HS), earned first team honors after a solid conference season. Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu hit .365 (19-for-55) in conference games and led UH with 22 RBI with three doubles and four home runs in 20 games. Overall, Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu is hitting .325 (39-for-120) with five doubles, eight home runs and 34 RBI. She was named to the second team as a designated player as a freshman in 2009.
 
Iwata, a three-year starter at shortstop from Lihu`e, Kaua`i (Kaua`i HS), was named to the all-WAC first team for the third straight season after hitting .375 (21-for-56) with a team-high eight home runs and 15 walks in conference action. She also led UH in WAC games with a .735 slugging percentage and a .488 on-base percentage. Overall, Iwata leads UH with a .390 average, 53 hits, 13 home runs and 51 RBI.
 
After one year on the all-WAC second team, Majam returned to the first team after leading UH with a .383 batting average, 23 hits, 21 runs scored, and four doubles (tied with three others. Overall, the centerfielder from Pine Valley, Calif. (Mountain Empire HS) is hitting .294 with a team-high 50 runs scored and 36 walks. She is second on the team with 12 home runs. Majam was WAC Freshman of the Year and a member of the first team in 2010.
 
Robinson, a third baseman from Honolulu, O`ahu, earned her first ever all-WAC honor after hitting .373 (22-for-59) in conference action. She tallied 16 runs scored, four home runs, and 12 RBI in the WAC. Overall, Robinson has started all 48 games at third base for UH and has been one of the most consistent hitters on the team all season. She is hitting .347 (50-for-144) with 33 runs, five doubles and seven home runs.
 
Aguirre made the all-WAC second team for the second straight season. The senior leftfielder from Temple City, Calif. hit .300 (18-for-60) in the WAC and made some highlight-reel defensive plays during conference action. She scored 15 runs with three home runs and led UH with five stolen bases in WAC games. Overall, Aguirre is hitting .258 (32-for-124) with 34 runs scored and 24 RBI.
 
Parnaby, a southpaw pitcher from Bilgola Plateau, NSW, Australia, recorded a 5-2 mark in the WAC with a 1.70 ERA with three shut outs. She's thrown 45.1 innings in conference action with 14 walks and 37 strike outs while holding opponents to a .174 average. Parnaby earned an 11-inning, complete game, 1-0 epic win over Fresno State two weeks ago in her longest outing of her career. Overall, Parnaby is 16-2 with a 0.95 ERA in 117.1 innings pitched. She has nine shutouts this season in 16 complete games with 22 walks to 118 strike outs.
 
It is the second most number of Hawai`i players to earn all-WAC honors in school history. In 2007, 10 Rainbow Wahine were named to either the first or second team.