Feb. 3, 2017 By Brandon Gann
AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn Tigers are coming off a National Championship appearance from 2016 and are looking to make a return visit to Oklahoma City. The infield is bolstered by the returning experience of All-American senior Kasey Cooper, redshirt senior Haley Fagan and sophomore transfer from the University of Washington Tannon Snow.
2016 was a standout year for Cooper as she won many awards, most notably espnW's Player of the Year, earned her second NCFA First-Team All American honors, and became the first female softball player to win both SEC Player and SEC Scholar-Athlete of the year in the same season. Not only did she garner accolades, but Cooper also was a record-setter. She holds seven different individual single-season program records such as starts (70), RBI (83), home runs (21), walks (71), and program records including batting average (.410), RBI (220), and walks (163).
In 14 games last season, Fagan tallied nine hits, four of which were doubles and had a home run. She was reliable in the postseason, having a hitting streak of seven games across both the Super Regionals and Women's College World Series. In 2015, however, the Dunnellon, Fla. native touted a .347 batting clip with 24 extra-base hits and had 56 RBI in her first on The Plains.
In her freshman season for the Huskies, Snow was only one of six on the team to make at least 50 appearances. Her offensive production was stout, finishing the season with 28 hits, with five of those being doubles and six were home runs. She was also reliable in bringing in the runs with 24 RBI on the 2016 season.
Junior Emily Spain and sophomores Kendall Veach and Casey McCrackin also round out the infielders with experience at the collegiate level. All three are Academic All-SEC members and in 2016, Spain had a perfect fielding percentage in all 17 of her appearances, Veach accrued five hits, five RBI, scored six runs and drew seven walks, and McCrackin had a .310 batting average in 35 games played.
For 2017, three new faces will look to make their mark in the infield for the national title contenders: KK Crocker, Laney Joyner, and Justus Perry.
Crocker, from Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa, Ala. is a proven winner, as she was part of three consecutive area and regional championships, a two-time all-state player, and was a 2015 All-Star selection.
Joyner was a four-year starter at shortstop for Sequoyah High School in Woodstock, Ga. She was a two-time offensive MVP and finished her high school career with a batting clip over .400 with 65 home runs.
Perry, originally from Prior Lake, Minn., finished out her prep career at Curry High School in Jasper, Ala., where she was a teammate with incoming freshman pitcher Ashlee Swindle. Perry played club ball for the Birmingham Thunderbolts and was a finalist for the Gatorade Player of the Year.
Brandon Gann is a student assistant with Auburn athletics communications