OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The 2021 season for the Johnson County softball team ended last weekend with a pair of losses at the NJCAA D-II Region VI/District A Tournament in Pryor, Okla. The Lady Cavaliers opened the tournament with a 4-2 loss to tournament host Murray State, and then were eliminated with a 2-1 setback by Labette.
Johnson County, led by 10-year head coach Aubree Brattin-Volkens, finished the season 27-15 and runner-up in the conference race with a 22-6 mark. During the season, Brattin-Volkens notched her 300th career win. She now has 310 total for her career.
Freshman Kaylin Watkins, who was voted the team's MVP, finished the season batting .445 (53-for-119) with 11 doubles, 15 home runs, 28 runs and 50 driven in, all which led the team. She also led the team with 18 multiple-hit games and 16 multiple-RBI games. Her 15 homers tie the third-most in a season in team history and 16 multi-RBI games tie a season record. Watkins also made 15 appearances in the circle. She was 6-4 with 54 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.32.
Freshman Aubrey Griffith posted the team top batting average of .457. She was second to Watkins with 42 hits. She had seven doubles, three triples, seven home runs and drove in 33 runners. Griffith had 13 multi-hit and 10 multi-RBI games.
Six other key run producers for the Lady Cavaliers were freshmen Emma Baldwin, Katie Enneking , Emma Stanwix, Haley Puccio, Emma Martin and Aubrey Peck.
Baldwin hit .396 (38-for-96) with eight doubles, two triples, five homers, 31 runs and 34 driven in. She also had 10 multi-hit and 10 multi-RBI games.
Enneking hit .352 (38-for-108) with five doubles, a team high four triples, four home runs, 36 runs and 33 RBI. She tied Griffith for second with 13 multiple-hit and 10 multiple-RBI games. She was the KJCCC Player of the Week in ween 12.
Stanwix batted .333 (31-for-99) with five doubles, a triple, four home runs, 22 runs and 27 RBI. She collected seven multi-hit and eight multi-RBI games, including a team high five RBI against State Fair on March 13.
Puccio hit .318 (28-for-88) with nine doubles, second most on the team. She also had three triples, two homers, 22 runs scored and 19 driven in. Three on the season she ripped a pair doubles in a game and she finished with seven multi-hit games.
Martin batted .319 (23-for-73) with seven doubles, a triple, two home runs, 17 runs scored and 16 driven in. She produced five multiple-hit games and four multiple-RBI games.
Peck hit a .308 clip (33-for-107) with six doubles, two triples, a home run, 37 runs and 15 RBI. Her 37 runs were second on the team. She also produced eight multiple-hit games.
The team's top pitcher in 2021 was freshman right-hander Kyla Etter. The Eudora native was 13-6 with 111 strikeouts and an ERA of 2.41, which led the conference. Three times on the year she struck out 10 or more batters. She also was named the conference pitcher of the week three times, earning the honor in week two, week 11 and week 12.
Freshmen hurlers AJ Elleman, Morgan Lindsay and Autumn Metcalf also provided key innings in the circle. Elleman was 5-5 with 37strikeouts and an ERA of 4.22. Lindsay was 3-0 with 15 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.97. Metcalf logged just five innings, but she recorded two saves to tie Etter for the team lead.