Blinn College softball utility player Sydney Gutierrez (Pearland) was named the 2018 Region XIV South Division Player of the Year.

"Sydney is a quality hitter who we knew would have a good chance of being one of the top hitters in our conference, and she lived up to those expectations," Blinn head coach Rick Church said.

A sophomore, Gutierrez led the Region XIV South Division in batting average (.458), home runs (11) and runs batted in (48). In addition, she led Blinn with 58 runs and 66 hits to help lead the Buccaneers to a 32-18 overall record and a fourth-place finish in the NJCAA Region XIV Softball Tournament. In addition, Gutierrez received first-team all-region and all-conference honors.

Joining Gutierrez with first-team all-conference and first-team all-region honors were sophomores Alivia Villarreal (New Braunfels) and Abby Olejniczak (Kingwood). Meghan Morris (Brenham), Tori Alvarez-Lopez (Cypress) and Morgan Gray (Houston) picked up first team all-conference honors along with second team all-region accolades.

"The girls who made the all-region and all-conference teams were the best in the South Division and all of their hard work paid off," Church said. "This is the first time that we have had that many players hit over .400 in a long time."

Villarreal led the Buccaneers with 16 doubles and was second on the team with 42 RBIs. Olejniczak led Blinn with 21 stolen bases and maintained a .442 batting average, the second best in the Region XIV South Division.

Morris finished the season with an 18-11 record in the circle and led the Buccaneer pitching staff with 90 strikeouts. Alvarez-Lopez hit for .395 and drove in 34 runs, while Gray batted .431 for the second most hits with 62.

Blinn placed second in the Region XIV South Division with an 18-6 conference record.

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 38 NJCAA national championships since 1987.