June 9, 2004

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara senior pitcher Jaime Forman-Lau received the Bronco of the Year Award as the softball team honored its seniors and thanked the fans at the team banquet, held Thursday evening at the Adobe Lodge on campus. The team also celebrated its first Pacific Coast Softball Conference Championship.

Sophomore shortstop Shannon Linerud received the Ms. Clutch award, freshman center fielder Angela Kabanuck was named the squad's Rookie of the Year award, and sophomore catcher Kate Goethals was honored with this year's Most Inspirational award. The Most Valuable Offensive honor was given to sophomore left fielder Jessica Clee and junior third baseman Vanessa Werner received Most Valuable Defensive recognition.

The Bronco of the Year award has been given annually to the player who best exemplifies what it means to play Bronco Softball, including attitude, effort, support of teammates, results and best representation of the program. Forman-Lau, a San Jose native, was named PCSC's Pitcher of the Year after leading the team with a 1.45 ERA and a 25-16 record. Those 25 wins ranked 13th nationally. She recorded 278 strike outs on the season and 557 in her two-year Bronco career to set a new program mark. She threw a perfect game against San Diego for the second consecutive season and notched at least 11Ks in seven outings.

Clee, from Milbrae, was a two-time PCSC Player of the Week honoree. She led the team with 30 RBIs and six home runs, starting 52 games. Clee started the season strong, opening with a solo homer against Long Beach State at the Early Bird Tournament, and smashing a three-run blast later that afternoon against Illinois-Chicago. Late in the season, she had a career series at San Diego, batting .750 with six RBIs, five runs and no strike outs.

Werner, of Albuquerque, N.M., stared all 53 games and batted .285. She led the team with 49 hits, 11 sacrifices, and 172 plate appearances, and added 22 runs and seven RBIs. Defensively, Werner posted a .951 fielding percentage and a team-leading 119 assists.

Linerud, of San Jose, started 52 games and posted 28 hits, including a team-leading three triples, and notched 22 RBIs. She drove in game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth against Missouri to lead the Broncos to a 4-3 victory at the Stanford Invitational. Another highlight included a triple to drive in one run against Iowa at the NIST. She stayed hot at the tournament, recording a two-out triple to right center, driving in two runs against San Jose State.

Kabanuck, of Petaluma, made an impact in her collegiate debut, recording the game-winning RBI against UC Santa Barbara at the Early Bird Tournament, and followed with a 4-for-4 performance the next afternoon against Illinois-Chicago, including two RBIs. Kabanuck continued on for a strong season and started 44 games, batted .234, notched 33 hits and 11 RBIs, while recording a .986 fielding percentage.

Goethals, of San Mateo, backed up the catching position and saw action in 38 games.

2004 Santa Clara Softball Awards