PEORIA, Ill. -- Senior outfielder
Kelly Kapp was named Bradley Softball's 2017 Most Valuable Player announced by ninth-year head coach
Amy Hayes Monday.
In addition to earning team MVP honors, Kapp was selected as Bradley's Most Valuable Offensive Player for the third consecutive season. Fellow senior
Caitlyn McCarron was named the squad's Most Valuable Defensive Player along with taking home the team's Most Improved Player award. Sophomore pitcher
Julie Kestas was given the team's 4D award in recognition of her desire, dedication, determination and discipline.
Kapp was a First-Team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection announced last week after a record-setting final season on The Hilltop. She led the league with a school record .438 batting average and topped her own Bradley season record for hits with 78. One of three players in MVC history with 76 or more hits in two different seasons, she stole a Valley record 41 bases in 2017 and wrapped up her career with a conference record 98 career steals.
Nationally, Kapp ranks seventh in total steals (41) in addition to ranking 16th in the country in batting average and eighth in total hits. Her .407 career batting average is the top mark in MVC history and she also broke into the top 20 in league history in career runs. Kapp hit .407 in MVC play this season and reached base 58 percent of the time she led off an inning in her final season on The Hilltop. She had multiple hits in 23 games and reached base safely in all but five games.
McCarron also earned First-Team All-MVC recognition in 2017 after ranking second in the MVC with a .428 average, which ranks second among Bradley season marks. The MVC Player of the Week for the week of March 27, she had 28 more hits in 2017 than she did in her first three seasons combined and finished the year with the sixth-best season hit total (68) in school history.
In addition, McCarron's team-best 16 doubles and 40 RBI both rank fifth among Bradley season marks. She slugged 25 extra-base hits for the most by a Brave since 2004 and owned the best season slugging percentage in school history (.686). McCarron ranks 28th in the nation in batting average and owned a team-high 18 two-out RBI. She closed her career with the best slugging percentage (.538) in Bradley history. This season she hit .438 with runners on and .429 with runners in scoring position.
Kestas led the Bradley pitching staff in appearances (35), starts (21), complete games (2) and innings (119.0), while holding opponents to a team-best .264 batting average. She posted a 7-10 record with a 4.06 ERA. In conference play she was 4-5 with a 3.98 ERA and a .260 batting average against over 65.0 innings.
Two of Kestas' strongest outings came in Valley play, including a 12 strikeout performance at Evansville. She doubled her previous career high for strikeouts in a game with 12 in the March 25 win at Evansville as she matched the most strikeouts by a Bradley pitcher since Ashley Birdsong had 14 against Northwestern in 2008.
In the series finale against Wichita State (April 9), Kestas came one pitch away from a perfect game before surrendering a two-out single in the seventh. Kestas was one strike from the first perfect game by a Bradley hurler since March 1994 as she became the first MVC pitcher to shutout the Shockers since 2014.
