The American Family Insurance ALL-USA softball team for the 2015-16 season was selected based on performance, level of competition and strength of schedule.
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Coach of the Year: Ashley Barber-Strunk, Sherwood (Sandy Spring, Md.)
PLAYER OF THE YEAR:Name: Ashlee Swindle
Position: Pitcher
School: Curry (Jasper, Ala.)
Year: Senior
College: Auburn
It took 94 years for Curry High School to earn its first Alabama state championship in any sport when Swindle led the Yellow Jackets to last year’s Class 4A title. Swindle didn’t make the Curry faithful wait long for title No. 2.
The right-handed pitcher cemented her legendary status by leading the Yellow Jackets back to the championship this spring, earning MVP honors of the Class 4A tournament after posting shutouts in the semifinal and final.
Not only has Swindle put Curry on the map in Alabama, the Yellow Jackets are making national waves, having reached No. 1 in the USA TODAY High School Sports/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Super 25 rankings for a portion of the season.
Overall, Swindle finished 45-2 with a 0.59 ERA and 385 strikeouts in an outrageous 262.2 innings of work. She held opponents to a .132 batting average and walked just 34 batters to post a strikeout-to-walk ratio north of 11 to 1. Not only that, she eclipsed the 1,000-strikeout mark for her career in the state semifinal victory.
But pitching was only part of the equation. She also hit .557 and slugged .935 thanks to 13 homers and 14 doubles while driving in 86 runs. She reached base in 47 of her team’s 49 games.
“It’s my senior year, so I wanted to go out with a bang,” Swindle told AL.com after the title-game triumph.
By bringing a second state championship trophy back to Curry, Swindle certainly accomplished that.