The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today the Top 3 Finalists for the 13th Annual USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Award.

This award, which is considered the most prestigious honor in Division I women’s collegiate softball, is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players across the country.

Here are the final three with bio information:

 

UCLA’s Ally Carda (Elk Grove, Calif.)
The 2014 Pac-12 Player of the Year, Ally Carda, through regional play, has amassed a 31-4 record, a 1.64 ERA and 219 strikeouts in the circle. If that wasn’t enough, the junior also holds a .388 batting average, .688 slugging percentage and .523 on-base percentage. Carda was voted Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week three times this season and was the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Week in week three. No. 2 UCLA will face No. 14 Kentucky in this week’s Super Regional’s for a spot in the NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS), which will be held in Oklahoma City May 29 – June 4.

 

 

Michigan’s Sierra Romero (Murrieta, Calif.)
The two-time Big 10 Player of the Year, Sierra Romero proved her freshman year was no fluke as the sophomore closed out the 2014 regular season leading the country with a .510 batting average, .646 on-base mark and was third with a .930 slugging percentage. In just two seasons at Michigan, Romero has a combined .429 batting average and 41 home runs. Behind their sophomore slugger, the Wolverines won their seventh straight Big 10 regular season title. Michigan is 46-13 on the year and will play No. 3 Florida State in the Tallahassee Super Regional this weekend for a berth into the NCAA WCWS.

 

 

Florida State’s Lacey Waldrop (Chester, Va.)
The 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Pitcher of the Year, Lacey Waldrop leads the country with 36 wins and is second with a .90 ERA. The junior ace has given up just four home runs on the season and has held opposing batters to a .175 average in 241.1 innings of work. Waldrop, a two-time All-ACC selection, led her Seminoles to both the regular season and conference tournament titles this season. Florida State will host Michigan in Super Regional’s this week with a trip to the NCAA WCWS on the line.

 

Past winners of this award include UCLA’s Stacey Nuveman, Florida State’s Jessica Van der Linden, three-time winner from Texas Cat Osterman, Tennessee’s Monica Abbott, Virginia Tech’s Angela Tincher, two-time winner Washington pitcher/hitter Danielle Lawrie, 2011 winner Ashley Hansen from Stanford and 2012 and 2013 back-to-back winner Keilani Ricketts of Oklahoma.

The winner of the 2014 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award will be announced on May 27 at the team only banquet just prior to the start of the NCAA WCWS.

The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award is voted on by coaching representatives from 11 Division I Conferences in the 15 ASA Regions as well as members of the media who consistently cover Division I Softball across the country, and previous Player of the Year recipients.

Photo credits:

• Lacey Waldrop (front page): photo by Robert Gill/FSView
• Three finalist heads shot (above): photos by USA Softball