COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado Mesa’s Myah Arrieta is the 2024 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Softball Player of the Year, the league announced Wednesday. Arrieta headlines a list of 25 all-conference selections as a first-team honoree after leading the Mavericks to the 2024 RMAC Softball regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in this weekend’s conference tournament. Joining Arrieta as an individual award winner is fellow Maverick Preslee Christensen as the RMAC Pitcher of the Year. Colorado Christian’s Elyse McMullin is the RMAC Freshman of the Year after a stellar debut season for the Cougars. Colorado Mesa head coach Mercedes Bohte was voted the RMAC Softball Coach of the Year by her peers.
In addition to the RMAC individual awards and all-conference rosters, the league also announced its Gold Glove roster. The RMAC individual awards, all-conference rosters and gold glove honors are nominated and selected by the league’s 12 head coaches. Coaches are not permitted to vote for themselves or their players during voting.
Arrieta has been lights out all season for the Mavericks and leads the RMAC with an incredible .500 batting average and 26 home runs, both of which also rank second nationally. Her 26 homers also set the RMAC single-season record with more postseason games on the way. She has started in all 50 of the Mavericks’ games this season and racked up 64 RBI along the way. Additionally, she holds a 1.079 slugging percentage and accounts for 81 runs. On 13 stolen base attempts, she has converted 10 and compiled a .575 on-base percentage. She has accumulated 177 bases so far this season with 41 of her 82 hits going for extra bases.
Christensen snags RMAC Pitcher of the Year distinctions for the Mavericks after a stellar regular-season campaign in the circle, where she compiled a 17-3 record. She holds a 1.99 earned-run average and a 1.22 WHIP over 126.2 innings pitched. The junior is limiting opponents to a .240 batting average and has fanned a stellar 115 batters throughout the year. She has 11 complete games, six shutouts and one save to her credit and has started in 22 of her 29 appearances. In addition to her honor, she also bolsters her resume with a first-team nod.
McMullin is the RMAC Freshman of the Year after a debut season worthy of attention, earning 38 starts on 49 appearances for the Cougars. Over 110 plate appearances, the freshman holds a .382 batting average with 42 hits and 15 RBI. She is perfect on stolen base attempts and holds a .415 on-base percentage ahead of the postseason. Sixteen of her hits went for extra bases, including 12 doubles, for a CCU team that has a proven ability to light up the scoreboard.
Bohte is the RMAC Coach of the Year after leading the Mavericks to a 41-3 record in conference play, securing the outright regular-season title for Colorado Mesa along the way. Despite dropping three games to CCU earlier in the season the Mavs have since rebounded and racked up an incredible 33-game win streak. CMU is 17-3 on the road and closed the regular season with a flawless 20-0 record on its home diamond. Colorado Mesa enters the RMAC Tournament ranked No. 24 in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association rankings. Under Bohte’s leadership, the Mavericks will now turn their attention to the postseason, where they will host the conference tournament this week.
Of the 25 honorees named to the 2024 RMAC Softball All-Conference rosters, Colorado Christian leads the way with seven honorees. Colorado Mesa checks in next with six selections, followed by Metropolitan State University of Denver with four roster spots. Regis accounts for a trio of honorees, just ahead of Colorado School of Mines’ two all-conference members. Chadron State, Colorado State University Pueblo and Fort Lewis round out the all-conference rosters with one selection apiece.
Seven institutions are represented among the nine spots on the RMAC Softball Gold Glove roster, including Chadron State, Colorado Christian, Colorado Mesa, CSU Pueblo, Fort Lewis, MSU Denver and Regis.
The RMAC Softball Tournament opens on Thursday, May 2, at CMU Softball Field in Grand Junction, Colo. Thursday’s action will get underway with game one at 10 a.m. MT, featuring No. 4 Colorado School of Mines and No. 5 Regis. Game two is slated to begin at 12:30 p.m., with No. 3 MSU Denver taking on No. 6 CSU Pueblo. The top-seeded Mavericks will host the winner of game one in the third game of the tournament, beginning at 3 p.m. No. 2 Colorado Christian will round out the opening day of the tournament against the winner of game two.
Each game of the 2024 RMAC Softball Tournament will be broadcast live on the
RMAC Network at $9.95 per day pass or $20 for a tournament pass. Each day pass will grant fans access to all games throughout that given day.