Five Cougars Earn All-ACCAC and All-Region Honors
2023 All-ACCAC Team and Region I Teams
PHOENIX ---
Five South Mountain Community College softball team student-athletes received All-ACCAC and All-Region I Division II honors as voted upon by the league's head coaches. Sophomore Makaiya Gomez was named ACCAC Player of the Year, with sophomore Anisa Reynolds and freshmen Halle Hogan and Brianna Garcia joining her with First Team All-ACCAC honors. Sophomore Rebecca Miller received Second Team All-ACCAC honors and joined her four teammates on the Region I Division II squad, and Cougar head coach Brittany Matta was named ACCAC Coach of the Year.
Gomez has had a sensational season for the Cougars and earned the ACCAC Player of the Year. At the end of the regular season, Gomez led the ACCAC with a .547 batting average, 115 runs scored, 105 hits, 48 walks, and a .647 on-base percentage. She added 22 doubles, two triples, 19 home runs, 85 RBIs, and 24 stolen bases with a .987 fielding percentage and six outfield assists.
She has 32 multi-hit games and posted a season-high five hits in a win at Yavapai College on April 11. Gomez has recorded 23 multi-RBI games and drove in a season-high seven runs in a February 11 win over Gateway CC. She had a season-high two stolen bases in three games and homered twice in an 11-4 win at Scottsdale CC on March 23. She started the 2023 season with a 25-game hitting streak and ended the regular season on a 15-game streak.
Reynolds has been a tremendous two-way force for the Cougars in 2023, excelling in the circle and the outfield. In the circle, Reynolds finished the regular season at 18-3 with a save, 93 strikeouts and a 3.49 ERA in 124.1 innings of work. Offensively, Reynolds batted .387 with 58 runs, 65 hits, eight doubles, 25 home runs, 77 RBIs, 25 walks and seven stolen bases. She finished the regular season tied for second in home runs, sixth in RBIs, fourth in wins and seventh in RBIs.
Reynolds struck out a season-high 10 batters in a March 13 win over Kirkwood CC (IA) and had seven punch outs in a win at Central Arizona on February 23. She posted five multi-home runs games during the 2023 season and blasted three home runs in a home win over Glendale CC on February 18. Reynolds posted a season-high seven RBIs and two home runs in a win at Central Arizona on February 23. She had a season-high four hits with two home runs, two doubles and six RBIs in a win over Gateway CC on February 11.
Garcia has set the school record with 28 home runs and led the ACCAC with 94 RBIs and a 1.000 slugging percentage in 57 regular season games. She added a team-high 25 doubles, 86 runs, 100 hits, a triple, 25 walks, nine stolen bases and a .525 on-base percentage. She ranked third in doubles, second in runs and hits, and seventh in on-base percentage.
She had four multi-home run games in 2023, including three bombs in a 12-2 win at Arizona Western on March 7. She had a season-high six RBIs in two games and a season-high four hits in wins over Phoenix College and Pima CC. Garcia had six games with two doubles and scored a season-high four runs twice. Garcia has posted hitting streaks of 17 and 13 games during the year.
Hogan excelled at the plate and as the team's primary first baseman in the 2023 season. In 51 games, Hogan batted .516 with 55 runs, 83 hits, 20 doubles, a triple, 13 home runs, 63 RBIs, 24 walks, five stolen bases, a .595 on-base percentage, and a .894 slugging percentage. She finished second in the ACCAC in batting average and on-base percentage, tied for 10th in doubles, 11th in RBIs, and fifth in slugging percentage. Defensively, she posted a .972 fielding percentage in 177 chances and was a part of 10 double plays.
Hogan went a perfect 5-for-5 with three runs, a double, a home run and two RBIs in a road win at Eastern Arizona on April 25. She also posted a season-high four hits, including two doubles and six RBIs in a home win over Paradise Valley CC on April 15. Hogan has had 24 multi-hit and 20 multi-RBI games and a 12-game hitting streak during the year.
Miller appeared in 28 games before an injury cut her season short in late March. She batted .402 with 27 runs, 35 hits, four doubles, two triples, four home runs, 22 RBIs and 11 walks. She also had a .480 on-base percentage and a .632 slugging percentage. As the team's primary catcher, she recorded a .992 fielding percentage in 124 chances, finishing with 10 assists and catching two runners stealing.
Miller had a season-high three hits in three games and drove in a season-high four RBIs in a win at Paradise Valley CC on February 28. She had 11 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games.
In her fourth season at the helm of the Cougars, Matta earned ACCAC Coach of the Year honors after leading SMCC to a school-record 49 wins and the first ACCAC title in program history. She and the Cougars have qualified for the postseason for three-straight seasons and SMCC will host the Region I Division II Tournament for the first time in school history.