PRINCETON, N.J. -- Dartmouth senior shortstop Katie McEachern (San Diego) became just the third player in Ivy League softball history to win back-to-back Player of the Year awards when the League announced its annual postseason honors on Thursday.
Pitcher of the Year accolades went to Harvard senior Morgan Groom (Lowell, Mich.), while Rookie of the Year was claimed by Groom's teammate, freshman shortstop Rhianna Rich (El Segundo, Calif.). Princeton's Lisa Van Ackeren was selected as the Coach of the Year. The award winners, as well as the All-Ivy teams, were determined by a vote of the League's eight head coaches.
McEachern paced the Ancient Eight with 12 home runs, a .547 on-base percentage and a slugging percentage of .833, while ranking second in batting average (.442) and walks (25). No one drove in more runs than her mark of 22 during conference play. She finishes her career as the Big Green's all-time leader in average, hits, runs, RBI and homers.
Groom concluded her time at Harvard by winning a career-high 10 games with a save and a 2.30 earned run average that ranked third in the conference. She fanned 95 batters -- one shy of her personal best -- in 103.1 innings pitched, placing third among Ivy pitchers in strikeouts per game. Six of her victories came in Ivy play, where she lowered her ERA to 2.04 and led the League in strikeouts per game at 6.36.
Rich impressed in her debut season, leading the conference in hits (61) and runs (42), tying for second in doubles (13) and ranking fourth with a .381 batting average. The second-team shortstop was also the keystone of a Crimson defense that led the Ancient Eight with a .970 fielding percentage and finished with the League's best record.
Van Ackeren (left), in her fourth season at the helm of the Tigers, led Princeton to its first Ivy title since 2008 and a berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Joining McEachern and Groom on the All-Ivy first team are three unanimous selections -- Harvard sophomore outfielder Maddy Kaplan, Brown sophomore outfielder Yeram Park and Penn senior utility player Lauren Li. Kaplan led the League with a .472 batting average, including a .523 mark in conference play. Park led the Bears with a .374 batting average and four home runs, while Li batted .323 with a team-high eight doubles for the Quakers.
Other first-teamers include Dartmouth's Karen Chaw, Harvard's Meagan Lantz and Giana Panariello, Penn's Leah Allen and Alexis Sargent, and Princeton's Kaylee Grant and Skye Jerpbak.
With three second-team selections, Harvard led the way with seven All-Ivy selections with Dartmouth just behind with six, including four second-team selections.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Katie McEachern, Dartmouth (Sr., SS - San Diego)
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Morgan Groom, Harvard (Sr., SP - Lowell, Mich.)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Rhianna Rich, Harvard (Fr., SS - El Segundo, Calif.)
COACH OF THE YEAR
Lisa Van Ackeren, Princeton
FIRST TEAM ALL-IVY
Morgan Groom, Harvard (Sr., SP - Lowell, Mich.)
Skye Jerpbak, Princeton (Sr., C - Rescue, Calif.)
Kaylee Grant, Princeton (Fr., 1B - Keller, Texas)
Giana Panariello, Harvard (Jr., 2B - Bay Shore, N.Y.)
Meagan Lantz, Harvard (Fr., 3B - Parkland, Fla.)
Katie McEachern, Dartmouth (Sr., SS - San Diego)
*Yeram Park, Brown (So., OF - Arcadia, Calif.)
*Maddy Kaplan, Harvard (So., OF - Santa Monica, Calif.)
Leah Allen, Penn (Jr., OF - Woodbine, Md.)
*Lauren Li, Penn (Sr., UTIL - Los Angeles)
Alexis Sargent, Penn (Jr., P/UTIL - Alexandria, Va.)
Karen Chaw, Dartmouth (Jr., DP - Castro Valley, Calif.)
SECOND TEAM ALL-IVY^
Morgan McCalmon, Dartmouth (Sr., SP - Norman, Okla.)
Lindsay Efflandt, Yale (Jr., SP - Cary, Ill.)
Elizabeth Shively, Harvard (Fr., C - Dallas, Ga.)
Maddie Damore, Dartmouth (Jr., 1B - Campbell, Calif.)
Morgan Martinelli, Dartmouth (Fr., 2B - Morgan Hill, Calif.)
Christina Andrews, Brown (Jr., 3B - Southlake, Texas)
Rhianna Rich, Harvard (Fr., SS - El Segundo, Calif.)
Lourlin Lara, Dartmouth (So., OF - Canyon Country, Calif.)
Zoe Galindo, Harvard (Sr., OF - Las Vegas)
Kanani Datan, Penn (Sr., OF - Simi Valley, Calif.)
Kylee Pierce, Princeton (So., OF - Modesto, Calif.)
Meg Parker, Cornell (Sr., P/UTIL - Miami)
Sarah Syrop, Brown (Jr., DP - Kennesaw, Ga.)
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-IVY
Leanne Iannucci, Cornell (Sr., C - Carle Place, N.Y.)
Jurie Joyner, Penn (So., C - McDonough, Ga.)
Sarah Cwiertnia, Penn (Fr., 1B - Villa Park, Calif.)
Taylor Troutt, Columbia (So., 2B - League City, Texas)
Sam Pederson, Penn (Fr., 2B - Scottsdale, Ariz.)
Allison Skinner, Yale (So., 3B - Katy, Texas)
Janet Leung, Brown (Sr., SS - Mississauga, Ontario)
Krystin Wong, Columbia (Fr., OF - Kaneohe, Hawaii)
Sydney Glover, Yale (Jr., OF - Suffolk, Va.)
Keeley Walsh, Princeton (Fr., DP - Stevenson Ranch, Calif.)
*Unanimous Selection
^There are two starting pitchers and four outfielders on the second team due to ties in voting.