Softball On SI's NCAA Division I All-Quarter-Century Team: Shortstop

Oklahoma shortstop Tiare Jennings (23) chases after the ball in the third inning during Game 2 of the NCAA softball Women's College World Series Championship Series game.
Oklahoma shortstop Tiare Jennings (23) chases after the ball in the third inning during Game 2 of the NCAA softball Women's College World Series Championship Series game. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

There have been 25 seasons of NCAA Division I softball this century.

Now, Softball On SI looks to build the All-Quarter-Century team, and we must decide on the best shortstop to represent the last 25 years of the sport.

There are five players from the list below who will make the final roster.

The Softball On SI All-Quarter-Century team will be released in August. If you haven't voted for pitchers, catchers, first base, or second base, please do so.

Vote for five players below. Continue scrolling for information on each of the players.

Of the 42 shortstops on the list above, only nine schools have multiple players who made the cut.

Washington and UCLA lead the way with four in Jaime Clark, Jenn Salling, Ali Aguilar, and Sis Bates representing the Huskies. The Bruins on the list are Natasha Watley, Briana Perez, Delaney Spaulding, and Maya Brady.

Tennessee, Arizona, and Oregon each have three. Lindsay Schutlzer, Meghan Gregg, and Madison Shipman are Lady Vol greats while Jessie Harper, K'lee Arredondo, and Mo Mercado represent the Wildcats. The Ducks on the list are Jenn Salling, who played her freshman year at Oregon before transferring to Washington, Nikki Udria, and DJ Sanders.

Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona State, and Louisiana each have two.

Grace Lyons and Tiare Jennings are the two Sooners; Molly Johnson and Erin Coffel are from the Wildcats, Cheyenne Coyle and Katelyn Boyd represent the Sun Devils, and Nerissa Myers and Sanders were from the Ragin' Cajuns. Sanders spent the majority of her career in Lafayette before transferring to Oregon.

The rest of the list comes from all over the country. Sam Fischer from Loyola Marymount, Morgan Zerkle from Marshall, Sydney McKinney of Wichita State, and Holly Speers of Kent State are the mid-major representatives.

Jess Oakland, who is currently at Duke, made the cut after he performance on the field with Minnesota.

Billie Andrews is one of the best to ever play for Nebraska, and Aileen Morales, who is the head coach at Georgia Tech, was a stadout for the Jackets during her playing days.

Skylar Wallace was great for Alabama and Florida.

There's also Lauren Grill of Ole Miss, Sierra Romero of Michigan, Kristen Brown of North Carolina, Sami Fagan of Mizzou, Alyssa DiCarlo of Georgia, Sami Williams of Iowa State, Braxton Burnside of Arkansas, Kiley Naomi of Oklahoma State, Ashley Hansen of Stanford, and Tammy Williams of Northwestern.


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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. She has been covering college softball since 2016 for various outlets including Softball America, ESPNW and Hurrdat Sports. She is currently the managing editor of Softball On SI and also serves as an analyst for Nebraska softball games on Nebraska Public Media and B1G+.