Butler freshman Brynn Minor and head coach Doug Chance were recently honored by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission at its annual banquet.
Minor was named the Junior College Female Athlete of the Year, while Chance received the Coach of the Year award. Minor became the Grizzlies' second receipent of the award in as many years, as soccer's Madison Wedekind won the honor in 2015.
Minor, a pitcher/outfielder, led Butler with 83 hits while hitting .459 with six home runs and 47 runs batted in. She was a perfect 17-of-17 in stolen bases, scored 51 runs and had 18 doubles with one triple. On the mound, Minor was one of the top pitchers in the nation with a second-best 1.00 earned-run average. Primarily as a reliever, she was 5-0 with five saves and had 72 strikeouts in 70. 1/3 innings pitched. Minor allowed just 10 earned runs on 40 hits in 35 appearances.
In conference play, Minor dominated the opposition on the mound with a 0.27 ERA in 17 appearances, going 1-0 with two saves. She allowed just one earned run in 26 innings and struck out 36 batters. At the plate, Minor hit a second-best .520 average and led the conference with 39 hits in 24 conference games.
During a 20-game stretch (Feb. 20 to April 6), Minor hit safely in 19 games while hitting .574 (35-for-61) with two home runs, 22 runs batted in, 23 runs scored and eight doubles. She also had 13 straight appearances (April 6 to May 4) without allowing a run. In that span, Minor tossed 21 shutout innings and struck out 30 batters while giving up just six hits.
At the NJCAA National Tournament, Minor hit .333 (7-for-21) with four doubles, one home run, five runs batted in and four runs scored. In the second-round contest against Florida Southwestern State, Minor hit a two-run home run and pitched 10 shutout innings in relief - allowing just four hits and one walk - as the Grizzlies won 5-4 in 15 innings. For her performance during the four-day tourney, Minor was named to the All-Tournament team.
In addition to NFCA All-American honors, Minor was also a first-team All-Jayhawk Conference Division I selection.
Chance finished his 12th season by coaching the Grizzlies to its first-ever national championship in the program's history. Along with the national title, Butler won the Region VI title and its sixth straight Jayhawk West championship under Chance.
The Grizzlies had four players receive All-American status and had a school-record nine players named to the All-KJCCC first-team, while the coaching staff was named the DI Junior College Coaching Staff of the Year by the National Fastpitch Coaches Assocation.
Chance, who is 506-147 (.775) overall at Butler, recorded his 500th victory on May 11 this season.
In addition to leading Butler to the 2016 national title, Chance has led Butler to nine Jayhawk West titles, seven Region VI titles, three top 10 finishes, a 2013 Final Four finish in the NJCAA World Series and nine years in the top 15 of the national rankings, including being ranked No. 1 in 2013 and 2014.
