Ventura College softball's Lauren Albrent was named the Western State Conference North Division Player of the Year in voting by the conference coaches following the 2022 season. 10 other Pirates also earned All-WSC honors, including first team accolades to Ashlyn Flinchum, Isabel Gallegos, Ahlyssa Guzman and Abby Strong.
Albrent, a first-year player, was named the WSC North Player of the Year after playing in all 41 games in 2022 for the Pirates, setting a school record with 12 home runs. The Buena High School product led the conference in HR along with 46 runs batted in, 49 base hits and 48 runs scored. Her .823 slugging percentage was second in the WSC North and she tied for third with 12 doubles and five triples. She batted .377 on the year which placed her ninth in the WSCN.
Freshman pitcher Flinchum earned first-team All-WSC honors. The St. Bonaventure High School alumna was second in wins and earned run average in the WSCN, posting 11 victories while posting a 1.85 ERA in in 26 games and 102.1 innings pitched. She led the league with three saves. Flinchum had 108 strikeouts, averaging 7.9 K's per seven innings pitched. SHe also had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage with 25 assists from the center of the infield.
Gallegos, a sophomore, also earned a first-team All-WSC nod. The outfielder from Foothill Tech High School led the team with a .411 batting average with a .504 on-base percentage, third and second in the WSCN, respectively. She had six home runs and 39 RBI during the season.
Guzman, a freshman from Santa Paula, earned first-team all-conference accolades. She had a .990 fielding percentage from her second base position, third in the conference among players with more than 100 chances. She recorded 64 put-outs and 40 assists in 105 chances defensively. She also hit .367 with 36 runs scored, the latter placing her third in the WSCN.
Shortstop Strong rounded out VC's first-team All-WSC selections. The sophomore from Foothill Tech was third in the conference with 43 hits while batting .350 in 40 games played. She was second on the team with seven doubles and posted an .888 fielding percentage with 53 put-outs and 50 assists in 116 chances defensively.
Ventura also added four players to the second-team All-WSC list, including sophomore pitcher Morgan Albertsen (Nordhoff HS), sophomore catcher Isabella Ayala (Santa Paula HS), freshman outfielder Ciana Garcia (Santa Paula HS), and sophomore opitcher/outfieder Kat Tafoya (Foothill Tech).
Sophomore third base/designated player Courtney Terrazas (Buena HS) and sophomore first base Leanna De La Cruz (Oxnard HS) were named honorable mention.
Ventura posted a 27-14 overall record in 2022, 10-2 in conference play. The WSC North runners-up were the No. 11 seed in the Southern California Regional Playoffs, falling in a first round series at No. 6 Palomar. It was VC's fourth straight post-season appearance under head coach Sonia Ford.