GOLDEN, Colo. – Colorado School of Mines softball head coach Mike Coutts has announced the first recipients of the program's 13 new annual awards, named after former players, coaches and benefactors that have had a significant impact on the softball program at Mines.
 
Seven different players were recognized for their work on the field, in the weightroom and in the classroom as Kendall Aragon, Kayleigh Krueger, Kailey Morales, Trystin Oshiro-Sano, Sadriena Rodriguez, Kellan Ton and Sidney Wilson have been named initial award recipients.
 
Descriptions of each award can be found here in the release announcing the awards program and Wall of Fame at Joe Coors, Jr. Softball Field from March of this year.
 
Aragon took home five awards this season including the Gail Klock Coaches Award, the Brianne Brennan Best Teammate Award, the Clara Larson Offensive Player Award, the Deborah Ausmus Batting Average Award and the Katie Kochman RBI Award. Aragon led mines this season in batting average at .398 and RBI with 32 and was responsible for 60 runs this season while getting on base at a .441 clip and slugging .439.
 
Krueger was the recipient of the Paige Noehring Defensive Player Award following her second season as the everyday starter at first base where she fielded .993 with just two errors in 280 chances, recording 265 putouts with 13 assists and helping turn 10 double plays.
 
Oshiro-Sano was a co-recipient of the Sydney Marchando Academic Award as she carried a perfect 4.0 GPA through the 2023-24 season while completing her degree in Civil Engineering and graduating in May.
 
Morales earned the Lauren Decker Oredigger Tough Award as chosen by the Mines Athletic Performance staff for her efforts in the areas of strength and conditioning.
 
Rodriguez took both pitching honors this season in the Kelly Unkrich Wins and Melanie Mahoney ERA Awards after nothing 18 wins posting a 2.69 ERA in 30 appearances, working 161.1 innings as she earned First Team All-RMAC honors after leading the conference in wins during the regular season.
 
Ton earned the Kaleigh Starr Runs Scored Award after posting a stellar debut season and leading the team with 34 runs scored as she also broke the single-season record for stolen bases with 25.
 
Wilson landed three honors this season including the Keri Siggins Perseverance Award, Gail Coors Leadership Award and was the other co-recipient of the Marchando Academic Award for her dedication and effort to make herself available every game of the season as the starting shortstop and for her on-field leadership as a four-year starter who only took three games off during her career. She also recorded a perfect 4.0 GPA during the 2023-24 season and graduated in May with a degree in Quantitative Biosciences & Engineering.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines softball on X at @MinesSoftball and on Instagram at @mines_sb. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, X and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.