The Big 10 All-Tournament team was released shortly after the game, but I’m only writing this now because I wanted to savor the victory overnight before further griping about perceived disrespect. I already carped a bit about the regular season All-Conference selections
, but I did justify their selections in the end, save for Hannah Camenzind being left off entirely, which was pretty indefensible. (They did remember her here.)Let’s start by showing you the selections:
Most Outstanding Player: Jordy
Frahm, Sr., Nebraska
2026 Big Ten Softball All-Tournament Team
Stefini Ma’ake, So., Oregon
Samantha Bland, Jr., Nebraska
Hannah Camenzind, Sr., Nebraska
Jordy Frahm, Sr., Nebraska
Alexis Jensen, Fr., Nebraska
Kaniya Bragg, So., UCLA
Megan Grant, Sr., UCLA
Alexis Ramirez, R-Jr., UCLA
Rylee Slimp, So., UCLA
Taylor Tinsley, Sr., UCLA
Jordan Woolery, Sr., UCLA
Sophi Mazzola, So., Washington
Hannah Conger, So., Wisconsin
Shelby Jacobson, Sr., Wisconsin
Jackie Showalter, R-Fr., Wisconsin
The oddities are several.
First, I’m sure everyone noticed that despite, again, clearly proving we were the better team (won season series, won conference title by 3 games, won tourney final 7-2), UCLA stats were considered a more convincing measure of success than the actual games with six Bruins being named All-Conference compared to champion Nebraska’s four.
However, perhaps we should be grateful since we had one more selection than Wisconsin who was destroyed by UCLA 19-5 in the semis, but still managed three honorees.
And if you don’t believe stats rule the day, then note Stefini Ma’ake of Oregon. She did have a marvelous performance going 2-for-3 with 2 HR’s and 5 RBI’s. But it was in the only game the Ducks played, an 11-9 upset loss to Wisconsin, which made for a one-and-done team performance which does not normally result in individual honors for those team members.
And then there was Taylor Tinsley. She went 2-1 with a 2.47 ERA (baseball equivalent 3.18) 15 K’s, 7 BB’s and a WHIP of 1.411. In the final, she gave up 7 runs, 5 earned, a 5.83 ERA performance and got torched when the game turned. Very decent stats overall, but All-Tourney Team? And definitely a below par performance in the biggest game.
I guess since she threw all 17 innings, they threw a participation trophy her way.
The selections are supposedly made by media and Big 10 officials covering the tournament. I’m not sure how media are selected. For the last three seasons, I have been the only Nebraska reporter covering the tournament on site. Two years ago, I didn’t receive a ballot, but last year at Purdue, I was emailed a voting link. I dutifully watched the final for as long as I could because they want those submitted well before game’s end. This year, I didn’t receive one, but perhaps Only Big Ten officials voted this time or the email was lost, who knows?
But the point is, the voting link/ballots are sent out early and have a deadline well prior to game’s end because they want to be announcing the winners immediately after. So it’s very possible some folks got it out of the way early, perhaps even while UCLA was up 2-0 and they felt confident enough to go ahead and submit.
Is there a better way to do it? It’s not for me to say, but maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing to hold off the submission deadline until after the game that evening and announce the winners on Sunday. It’s not like the winners are all present. Five of the 15 honorees had already left town. UCLA’s six winners were not present as the Bruins had done their peace-out at games end and were outside the stadium with fans, friends and family.
Which left Nebraska’s meager four and believe me when I say that while the Husker winners were grateful, once they were named, everyone was sort of wanting it hurried along so they could get back to their celebration.
So in the end, I guess my final opinion is much like the other day’s – there’s nothing sinister or directly disrespectful going on since, as far as I know, this is still a balloting process if a somewhat haphazard one.
But there’s probably a better way to do it.
