SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – Following second-year head coach John Wissmath’s most successful season at College of the Canyons, Wissmath and his team earned six all-conference awards, Pitcher of the Year accolades for freshman Ashley Imperial and Coach of the Year honors for John Wissmath. Imperial also was named to the All-State team and Lauren Rose was honored with All-Southern California accolades.

Imperial, a freshman, led the conference in pitching with a 1.26 ERA and a perfect 12-0 record. The Saugus graduate pitched a conference-high 99.34 innings and gave up 76 hits, 24 runs (18 earned), walked 26 batters, and struck out 51. She also garnered one save for the Cougars.

Rose finished her second season with a .377 batting average and led the team with 57 hits and 29 runs. At her post on the field, first base, the Valencia alum had no errors and 10 assists.

Wissmath earns the conference coach of the year award after turning around the College of the Canyons softball program that won only 17 games in 2008. He led the team to a shared conference championship with Mission College after finishing the Western State, Blue Conference season with a 17-5 record.  COC finished the year with a 28-15-1 overall record.

All-Conference First Team
OF Whitney Bruce, Fr (Saugus): .382 avg, 11 RBIs
IF Sarah Hasenfus, So (Canoga Park): .323 avg, 12 RBIs
UTIL Melissa Herndon, Fr (West Ranch): .414 avg, 29 hits
1B Lauren Rose, So (Valencia): .378 avg, 18 RBIs

All-Conference Second Team:
C Sara Campos, So (Hoover): .288 avg, 21 RBIs, 0 errors
IF Jessica Fridwall, Fr (Hart): .317 avg, 10 RBIs

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