Jan. 12, 2012

BERKELEY - Freshman Cheyenne Cordes joined an elite group of people when USA Softball and the Amateur Softball Association recognized her as the Athlete of the Year from the Junior Women's National Team program.

Cordes helped lead the United States to the gold medal at the International Softball Federation Junior Women's World Championship, Dec. 6-17, in Cape Town, South Africa. She was the only member of the team to start in all 11 games in Cape Town and one of two athletes to play in all 11 games. While seeing time primarily at third, she also led the U.S. in hits (15), extra base hits (seven), RBI (12) and stolen bases (three).

"It is such a tremendous honor to be named the Athlete of the Year for the USA Softball Junior Women's National Team," Cordes said. "Words cannot describe how it feels to receive this award. It was a wonderful opportunity to wear USA across my chest the past two years and win two gold medals with such an awesome group of girls, who I love playing with. To be named the Athlete of the Year, it is a complete surprise. Everyone on the team is amazing, they're so good, and everyone did their part to help us win the ISF Junior Women's World Championship. I'm really honored. Thank you to USA Softball for this award and the experience of playing for my country."

At the plate, Cordes went 15-for-26 (.577) with one of her hits, a fifth-inning double, breaking open Japan's no hitter on Dec. 16. She had a team-high 12 RBI, only six less RBI then all of Team USA's opponents combined, and 10 runs scored, third most on the team. Cordes hit three doubles, a team-high two triples and a team-high two home runs. Both home runs, a solo blast and a three-run bomb, came in the second inning of Team USA's Dec. 14 game against Puerto Rico. Her tournament slugging percentage of 1.077 was the highest on the team. She was walked five times, third most on the team, and struck out only once in the entire tournament. On the base paths, she was 3-for-4, which made her the team leader in stolen bases.

Cordes was also a member of the 2010 USA Softball Junior Women's National Team. In 2010, the team qualified for the Junior Women's World Championship by winning three Pan American Championships (18-Under) in Bogota, Colombia.

ASA/USA Softball contributed to this release.

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