Four members of the East Carolina softball team have received postseason awards from the AAC, the school announced on Tuesday.
Below is more information from ECU Sports Information.
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Photo credit: (ECU Sports Information photo illustration)
IRVING, Texas – East Carolina graduate first baseman Morgan Johnson has been named to the 2025 American Athletic Conference First Team while junior outfielder Emma Jackson and graduate catcher Annie Kate Dalton were both named to the All-AAC Second Team and freshman pitcher Kendall Frost was tabbed to the All-AAC Freshman Team as the league unveiled its all-conference teams and major awards on Tuesday.
Johnson becomes only the second Pirate in the program’s American Athletic Conference era to earn first team honors, joining Casey Alcorn who was named All-AAC First Team in 2015. She is only the third Pirate to earn first team honors in any conference since 2011 when Toni Paisley was selected All-Conference USA First Team.
The three all-conference selections mark the second straight season that the Pirates have had three players earn a spot on an all-conference team. The trio of Johnson, Jackson and Dalton have combined for 45 of ECU’s 72 home runs this season, which is a single-season program record and leads the American entering the week. Frost’s All-Freshman Team selection marks the fourth straight time in as many seasons under head coach Shane Winkler that ECU has had a player on the first-year team.
Johnson slashed numbers of .327/.667/.397 at the plate in her second season for the Pirates, led ECU in hits with 56 and is currently second on the team in home runs with 17. The Evans, Ga. native was also second on the team in RBI with 47. Her strong performance last weekend in East Carolina’s sweep over North Texas where she recorded a hit and run in every game of the series earned her AAC Honorable Mention. Johnson received Honorable Mention one other time this season and was tabbed the AAC Player of the Week on Feb. 24 after slashing .750/1.333/.750 with six RBI, two home runs and 16 putouts over three games played.
Jackson batted .310 at the plate and leads the Pirates with 49 RBI and 18 home runs with the latter tied for the individual program record for a single season. She led all outfielders in the American in home runs and she is second among outfielders in RBI. The Chincoteague, Va. native was named the conference player of the week after slashing numbers of .583/1.333/.706 with three home runs, nine RBI and 16 total bases to help lead ECU to a sweep over UTSA and a home win against Michigan. In the Pirates’ weekend series at Charlotte, Jackson tied the conference single-game record with three home runs as the Pirates hit seven as a team in their 15-7 win. She was tabbed to Softball America’s Preseason Top 100 Players List after hitting the second-most doubles in the country last year with 24.
Dalton hit .301 at the plate and started all 54 games behind the plate at catcher. The Murphy, N.C. native recorded 49 hits, 10 home runs and eight doubles to go with 43 RBI. Dalton tallied 226 putouts and 25 assists and threw out 13 runners attempting to steal from behind the plate. She had 15 games with multiple hits and had a team-best streak of reaching base in 21 consecutive contests. Dalton received AAC Honorable Mention after slashing 538/.600/1.000 to help lead the Pirates to a series sweep over Memphis.
Frost threw a team-high 158.1 innings in the circle in her first season as a Pirate, tossing 99 strikeouts and tallying five saves. She was named the AAC Pitcher of the Week after leading ECU to two wins over Boston, who was receiving votes and was ranked by D1Softball. She became the first Pirate freshman pitcher to earn conference player of the week honors since Toni Paisley in 2007. The Roswell, Ga. native was tabbed to D1Softball’s D100 Freshman Watch List in the preseason and she came out in the first week of the year with an impressive showing against South Carolina, holding the Gamecocks to just one run. She tossed a season-high eight strikeouts twice this year, both on the road in victories over UTSA and Wichita State.
East Carolina will enter the American Athletic Conference Softball Championship at USF Softball Stadium as the No. 6 seed. The Pirates will face the winner of No. 10 seed Memphis or No. 7 UAB in the second round on May 7 at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
Below is the complete list of award winners and all-conference teams.
2025 American Athletic Conference Softball Regular-Season Awards
Player of the Year
Jenna Lord, Charlotte
Pitcher of the Year
Autumn Courtney, Florida Atlantic*
Defensive Player of the Year
Jesiana Mora, Florida Atlantic
Freshmen of the Year
Jaylah Jarrell, Charlotte
Ryley Nihart, Wichita State
Coaching Staff of the Year
Florida Atlantic
Head Coach Jordan Clark, Assistant Coach, Nicole Newman, Assistant Coach Shelby Petik, Assistant Coach Katelynn de Leon, Graduate Assistant Elizabeth Hightower, Graduate Assistant Dezarae Maldonado, Graduate Assistant Trinity Schlotterbeck
All-Conference First Team
P – Autumn Courtney, Florida Atlantic*
P – Payton Dixon, South Florida
P – Belle Sardja, South Florida
C – Chloe Yeatts, Florida Atlantic
1B – Morgan Johnson, East Carolina
2B – Cierra Simon, North Texas
SS – Maci Cole, Tulsa
3B – Jenna Lord, Charlotte
OF – Kylie Hammonds, Florida Atlantic
OF – Kailyn Bearpaw, North Texas
OF – Lauren Lucas, Wichita State
DP/U/Non-P – Madison Conley, North Texas*
All-Conference Second Team
P – Ainsley Lambert, Florida Atlantic
P – Ryley Nihart, Wichita State
C – Annie Kate Dalton, East Carolina
1B – Bella Cimino, Florida Atlantic
1B – Celeste Wood, Tulsa
2B – Jaylah Jarrell, Charlotte
SS – Kiley Channell, Florida Atlantic
3B – Jesiana Mora, Florida Atlantic
OF – Emma Jackson, East Carolina
OF – Bella Foran, Florida Atlantic
OF – Olivia Elliott, South Florida
DP/U/Non-P – Kari Shedrick, Charlotte
All-Freshman Team
P – Kendall Frost, East Carolina
P – Ryley Nihart, Wichita State
1B – Ausha Moore, North Texas
2B – Jaylah Jarrell, Charlotte
2B – Destiny Johns, Florida Atlantic
OF – Bella Foran, Florida Atlantic
DP – Brookelyn Livanec, Wichita State
*denotes unanimous selection