MARSHALL, Texas – Success continues to come to East Texas Baptist for character, service, and athletic awards as they earn their second straight American Southwest Conference Woman of the Year Award. ETBU softball player
Ashley Croft was voted the winner of this prestigious award by the ASC's Council of Senior Woman Administrators and is the highest individual honor a student-athlete can earn from the conference. She will now be the nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year of award representing the ASC and is the fifth student-athlete from ETBU to be nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.
The ASC also hands out the Man of the Year Award as ETBU baseball player Jake Miller won the award. ETBU has now swept all the major ASC awards this year with the Male and Female Players of the Year and Man and Women of the Year.
"Congratulations to
Ashley Croft and Jake Miller on such a distinctive and very deserving honor. Both Ashley and Jake were respected leaders on their teams and consistently performed at a high level on the field," said ETBU's Vice President for Student Engagement and Athletics Ryan Erwin. "They accomplished so much during their time as an ETBU Tiger and we could not be prouder of their commitment to excellence and servant leadership, which was evident throughout their career in the classroom, in the Marshall community, and athletically. As model student-athletes, who excelled in their athletic pursuits, they displayed great sportsmanship, and were driven by their faith in everything they did. Ashley and Jake's leadership on their teams and throughout the ETBU campus community always went above and beyond and we will forever be grateful for the contributions and the impact they had on everyone they interacted with over the years here 'On the Hilltop' at ETBU."
Croft, utility player/pitcher from the softball program that is from Cypress, Texas, earned her Bachelor's in Rehabilitative Science this May and finished Summa Cum Laude with a 3.90 GPA. She finished her final seven semesters at ETBU on President's List with a 4.0 GPA.
Croft earned NFCA All-American Third Team as a utility player and pitcher and was NFCA All-Region First Team. Croft was also ASC Pitcher of the Year, All-ASC First Team, ASC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and NFCA Pitcher of the Year Watchlist, ASC Hitter of the Week and ASC Pitcher of the Week. In 2021-22, Croft was All-ASC Third Team. In 2020-21, Croft earned NFCA West All-Region First Team, All-ASC First Team, NFCA National Pitcher of the Week, and was two-time ASC Pitcher of the Week. All three seasons with the Tigers, Croft was part of a top 25 nationally ranked program.
"We are so excited for Ashley to be honored as the ASC Woman of the Year and NCAA Woman of the Year nominee," said ETBU softball head coach
Janae Shirley. "Ashley is such a hard-working and selfless individual. She really is the example of what we hope all of our young women in our program strive to be. She was always the first to encourage a teammate, to put in extra work, to help someone out or go the extra mile. From the start of her time in our program, we knew that Ashley would positively impact those around her and make our program better and there is no doubt that she was able to do that in her time in a ETBU Uniform."
Croft's effort in the lineup and in the circle helped continue ETBU's softball success in the ASC by winning its 11th title and hosting a fourth straight NCAA Marshall, Texas, Regional Tournament. The Tigers went 39-7 overall, which included a 22-5 record in the ASC. Croft delivered eight innings in the circle of the tournament-clinching contest. The first seven innings were scoreless as she had a key single that was part of a three-run bottom of the eighth to hoist the ASC title banner and trophy.
Croft statistically dazzled on both sides of the diamond with a 19-2 pitching record, 1.49 earned run average, 21 appearances, 12 complete games, a no-hitter, 112.2 innings pitched, 26 walks allowed, and 58 strikeouts. She hit .373 batting average, 37 RBI, five doubles, eight home runs, 67 total bases, 20 runs, 38 hits, and a .657 slugging percentage. Her 19 wins ranked 19th nationally and led the conference. She also was top 10 in home runs (2nd), RBI (4th), ERA (3rd), games started (4th), complete games (5th), shutouts (5th), and strikeouts (9th).
Croft got recognized often for her academics, as she was tabbed 2023 Third Team College Sports Communicators Academic All-American and Academic All-District. She was inducted to Pi Gamma Mu, the International Honors Society in Social Sciences, and to Chi Alpha Sigma Honors Society, a national scholar-athlete society to have student-athletes who have excelled in both the classroom and athletic competition. Croft was a 2023 ASC Scholar-Athlete Medal of Honor. In 2022, Croft earned TOBY Awards Highest Team GPA at ETBU and was awarded the Transfer Honor Scholarship and Christian Leadership Scholarship. In 2021, Croft was recognized with the School of Professional Studies Rising Star Award, which is given to students in the School of Professional Studies that display a promising academic and professional future. Croft also was a member of Chemistry Club and had those same scholarships from the aforementioned year.
Croft got out in the community this past year by helping with Mission Marshall Food Bank. She had an opportunity to go on a mission trip to Australia with the softball team. While with the team, Croft served food at Lobethal Community and went caroling at the live nativity scene in Lobethal Australia. She also served at Living Hope Church and SecondBites in Australia, which included helping with food pantry and wrapping presents. The final thing overseas was putting on a Softball Clinic to help teach sport skills and shared testimony with over 30 children. Croft was also able to volunteer at Woodard Elementary School to help in the library and create decorations for their book fair. In 2022, ETBU softball earned NAD3AA Community Service Award for their Pen Pale program during CoVID. Croft also was able to complete 120 observation hours at Star Physical Therapy and 60 observation hours at Oakbend Physical Therapy, both located in Cypress, Texas. In three years, Croft was a Bible Study Member and Servant Leader with the softball team and participated in Operation Christmas Card.
Prior to coming to ETBU, Croft was at UT Tyler in 2019-20 and was involved in its FCA and was Bible Study Leader for its softball team. She also volunteered at Tyler Rose Special Olympics.
ASC Woman of the Year Award Winners
2023 |
Ashley Croft – ETBU
2022 | Taylor Singleton – ETBU
NCAA Woman of the Year Nominees for ETBU
2023 |
Ashley Croft
2022 | Taylor Singleton
2017 | Jayme Perez *
2013 | Lya Swaner *
2012 | Ashton Brey
*NCAA Woman of the Year Top 9 Finalist
NCAA Woman of the Year Nominees for ASC