Erin Coffel and Rylea Smith Named All-SEC For 2024
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky Softball players Erin Coffel and Rylea Smith were named to the 2024 All-Southeastern Conference softball team, it was announced by the league office Friday morning.
Coffel was named First Team All-SEC as voted on by the league coaches as well as the all-defensive player for the shortstop position in the SEC. Rylea Smith, a fifth year from St. Louis, Missouri, was named Second Team All-SEC, as she earned her first-career All-SEC honor after having the best statistical career of her season.
For Coffel, it marks the third-straight season she has been voted to the SEC’s first team. She hit .304 in the league games with three home runs and 10 runs batted in with 24 walks and nine hit by pitches. Coffel led all SEC batters in the league in on-base percentage and was one of two Kentucky players to hit above the .300 mark in the SEC, as the Wildcats were one of just four teams in the league to have two players hit above .300 in SEC games only.
Rylea Smith, who was named Second Team All-SEC, led Kentucky with a .313 batting average for the league season with 26 hits, six doubles, a triple and eight RBI. One of the most memorable RBI for Smith of the season was a walk-off double to the gap in left center at John Cropp Stadium to beat No. 13 Alabama in a rubber match as UK won its first SEC series of the season. Smith morphed into Kentucky’s lead-off hitter, playing in all 24 SEC games, as the Wildcats got seven runs from the fifth year out of St. Louis.
Tennessee’s Karen Weekly was named the SEC Coach of the Year and Karlyn Pickens was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year. Florida’s Jocelyn Erickson was the SEC Player of the Year and the Gators’ Keegan Rothrock was the SEC Freshman of the Year.
NEW for 2024 – The Kentucky Softball Designated Players Club
The Designated Players is the Official Booster Program of Kentucky Softball. Financial contributions and community support through The Designated Players program, Kentucky Softball will be able to continue to develop our student-athletes on and off the field. To join The Designated Players, you can join online or click here to download the membership form and mail to the address listed. For more information, email Kristine Himes at kentuckysoftball@uky.edu or Larry Cash at Larry.Cash@uky.edu.
For the latest on UK Softball, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @UKSoftball.
