A&M's Koko Wooley, Keely Williams earn SEC Player of the Week honors
Three SEC wins. Two SEC honors.
On Tuesday, a pair of Texas A&M softball standouts received Player of the Week recognition from the Southeastern Conference.
Infielder Koko Wooley was named the league’s Co-Player of the Week, while outfielder Keely Williams earned the Freshman of the Week nod. Wooley shares her honor with LSU’s Georgia Clark.
It is the first SEC honor for each of them.
Head coach Trisha Ford has recently emphasized the Aggies’ short game, so it should come as no surprise that a pair of speedsters earned recognition.
“We’ve spent the last two weeks working on our short game. Can you tell?” Ford said on Tuesday. “You can win ballgames — and we’ve shown that — in a lot of different ways. That is a key component of us being successful.”
A slapper from La Porte, Wooley was 5-for-11 (.455) with three runs scored. In addition to raising her season average to .297, the speed merchant also swiped a pair of bases in the sweep and drove in three runs.
“I feel like I had a good week,” Wooley said. “I was seeing the ball very good. I was on time, so that makes everything so much easier.
“It means a lot to me because I’ve never gotten it. It’s my first time, so yeah, I’m happy.”
Wooley’s best night of the series came in the finale as she went 3-for-4 and finished a home run shy of the cycle.
Williams — a Converse Judson product — only tallied a trio of hits (3-for-8), but the Bulldogs seemingly could not get the true freshman out as she also flashed the leather multiple times in left field.
Along with a multi-hit night in a 9-1 series-opening victory, Williams walked once in all three contests. Across the entire weekend, Williams scored three runs.
“I’m so happy for her,” Wooley said of Williams. “That’s fun because we work so hard. She’s actually in my hitting group, so we work hard. We grind, so it’s fun to have that award after you’ve been grinding so hard.”
Now 8-7 in the league, No. 21 A&M now has a chance to host an NCAA regional, but they’ll have to continue this surge.
The Aggies finish the regular season with weekend sets against three of the SEC’s bottom four teams.
However, they’re not looking beyond Wednesday night’s battle with Louisiana.
First pitch between the Aggies and Ragin’ Cajuns is set for 6 p.m. CT at Davis Diamond.