Two MU players selected for USA Softball’s college player of the year watch list

Two Missouri softball players landed on USA Softball’s preseason college player of the year watch list.

Junior outfielder Emily Crane from Troy, Mo., and sophomore pitcher Tori Finucane from Germantown, Md., were among 50 players on the list.

Twelve teams, including Auburn, Florida and Georgia from the SEC, had at least two players on the list.

Crane batted .389 with 10 doubles, four home runs, 37 RBIs and 17 stolen bases last season.

Finucane, a right-hander, was the SEC freshman of the year after going 21-6 with a 1.73 ERA last season.

Led by Crane and Finucane, the Tigers are ranked No. 17 in the preseason USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll. They are behind five other SEC programs —No. 1 Florida, No. 3 Alabama, No. 6 Kentucky, No. 12 Georgia and No. 13 Tennessee.

Georgia junior Alex Hugo, an Olathe South graduate who batted .341 and led the nation with 25 home runs last season, also made the watch list. She started her career at Kansas.

The list also includes Wichita State junior first baseman/outfielder Cacy Williams, a Platte County graduate and the reigning Missouri Valley Conference player of the year.

Williams, who is the first person in conference history to also win the Valley’s newcomer of the year in the same season, batted .424 with 16 home runs and 47 RBIs last season.

To reach Tod Palmer, call 816-234-4389 or send email to tpalmer@kcstar.com. Follow him on Twitter at @todpalmer.

This story was originally published January 28, 2015 at 9:04 PM with the headline "Two MU players selected for USA Softball’s college player of the year watch list."