Indianapolis, Ind, -- Youngstown State senior Elyssa Imler was named the 2024 Horizon League Softball Player of the Year while Brian Campbell was chosen as the Coach of the Year for the third time, the league announced on Tuesday.
Senior Conchetta Rinaldi was selected as one of four Defensive Players of the Year.
Four Penguins were voted to the All-Horizon League Teams as Imler, and senior Sophie Howell garnered first-team honors while Rinaldi and freshman Lydia Wilkerson were named to the second team.
Wilkerson and freshman Macy Littler was both named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team.
Campbell, who was also named coach of the year 2012 and 2021, guided the Penguins to their second regular-season championship in the last four years after being predicted to place fourth in the preseason poll. The Penguins posted a 20-4 Horizon League record to mark the fifth time since 2002 a league team won at least 20 conference games. Youngstown State won a league record 28 games during the 2021 season.
Campbell also led the Penguins to overall record of 36-15 and tied the program record for most wins in a season.
Imler, who posted a .444 batting average in league play, ranked second in the league in average and scored 16 runs with five doubles, a home run and 15 RBIs. She also posted a slugging percentage of .556 with an on-base percentage of .458 for an OPS of 1.024.
Imler is just the fourth person in program history to earn player-of-the-year honors and the first YSU player since Miranda Castiglione in 2014 to earn the league's top player award.
Howell, a three-time league pitcher of the week, tied for the league lead with 14 wins and ranked third with 102 strikeouts and fourth with a 2.07 earned-run average. Howell also set the YSU single-season overall wins record with 23, and she became just the third pitcher in program history to record at least 50 career wins (50) with 500 career strikeouts (512). Her 187 strikeouts this year also rank fifth on the single-season chart and her 1.88 overall ERA is tied for eighth.
She is the first YSU pitcher to be named to the all-league first team since Elle Buffenbarger in 2021, and she is just the fourth YSU pitcher to garnered first-team honors.
Rinaldi posted an impressive .400 batting average in league play that rank ninth in the circuit. She also drove in 18 runs with six doubles a home run and nine runs scored. An overall .321 hitter this year, Rinaldi also posted a .529 slugging percentage in conference play.
Wilkerson was one of the top freshmen in the Horizon League in 2024. She batted an impressive .377 in league play with 10 runs scored, four doubles, two home runs and 10 RBIs. Wilkerson ranked 15th in the league in batting average and 13th with a .442 on-base percentage.
Littler posted a solid .296 batting average in Horizon League play while scoring eight time with a double, a triple and eight RBIs. She also stole four bases.
Littler and Wilkerson are the 14th and 15th YSU players named to the all-freshman/all-newcomer team since the 2010 season.
2024 #HLSB Awards
Player of the Year: Elyssa Imler, Youngstown State
Pitcher of the Year: Sydney Campbell, Oakland
Defensive Players of the Year: Kendal Calvert, IUPUI; Maddie Lacer, Northern Kentucky; Jen Krizka, Oakland and Conchetta Rinaldi, Youngstown State
Freshman of the Year: Aglaia Rudd, Purdue Fort Wayne
Coach of the Year: Brian Campbell, Youngstown State
Sportsmanship Award: Maddie Lacer, Northern Kentucky
All-League First Team
Position Players
Brooke Albaugh, Cleveland State
Melissa Holzopfel, Cleveland State
Kendal Calvert, IUPUI
Kennedy Cowan, IUPUI
Ella LeMonier, Northern Kentucky
Jena Rhoads, Northern Kentucky
Maci Brown, Oakland
Reese Ruhlman, Oakland
Grace Hollopeter, Purdue Fort Wayne
Aglaia Rudd, Purdue Fort Wayne
Elyssa Imler, Youngstown State
Pitchers
Melissa Holzopfel, Cleveland State
Sydney Campbell, Oakland
Sophie Howell, Youngstown State
All-League Second Team
Position Players
Emma Gilkerson, Cleveland State
Becky Hurosky, Cleveland State
Maddie Lacer, Northern Kentucky
Olivia Pastin, Northern Kentucky
Jen Krizka, Oakland
Brooklyn Plitz, Oakland
Kamryn Troyer, Oakland
Charlotte Grover, RMU
Anna Resnik, RMU
Conchetta Rinaldi, Youngstown State
Lydia Wilkerson, Youngstown State
Pitchers
Lauryn Hicks, Northern Kentucky
Alanah Jones, Purdue Fort Wayne
Madison DeVault, RMU
All-Freshman Team
Paige McPhearson, IUPUI
Brooklyn Ballis, Northern Kentucky
Alyssa Balcom, Oakland
Brooklyn Plitz, Oakland
Aglaia Rudd, Purdue Fort Wayne
Kaylyn Hopf, RMU
Kaitlyn Molitoris, RMU
Macy Littler, Youngstown State
Lydia Wilkerson, Youngstown State
