Riley was robbed
Riley Donovan
@NAIA #NAIASoftball @SOURaiders @SOU_Softball @riles_cd
Not to take anything away from Haley Loffer, as she had an excellent season and deserved to land on the All-American first team, but there is not a softball coach in the universe that would have taken her season over Riley Donovan’s. The NAIA writes about their selection of Loffer being the Player of the Year saying Loffer had “an impressive slash of .404/.564/.770, one of the best in the nation.” Guess whose was the best in the nation? Riley’s at .491/.570/.977! The only one of those that is even close is OBP.
In the announcement, they also marvel at Loffer’s run production. However, if you add up Loffer’s runs and RBIs, they add up to a number that is 39 fewer than Riley’s!
Loffer can steal bases so maybe total bases is a better way to compare? Riley led the nation in total bases at 169. Loffer came in 13th with just 124.
The NAIA could have been honest and said that since Riley won it last year, they weren’t going to give it to her again no matter how well she did. Instead, they did an injustice.
For full comparison stats (including the 16 players who had a higher slugging percentage than Loffer), click here.
What was Riley’s slash in 2022 when she did receive the NAIA Softball Player of the Year Award? .481/.592/.973 So Riley improved on two out of three of those apparently most-important stats, and that isn’t good enough to award her the well-deserved honor again?
