(During the week of July 17th, Extra Inning Softball is announcing superlative awards for the 2023 college softball season.)
Stanford’s team ERA checked in at 1.53 for the 2023 season, and that was after giving up a few extra runs to Oklahoma in the season’s final game.
Suffice it to say, the Cardinal pitching staff was arguably and, possibly, easily the nation’s best unit. That unit functioned under the expert guidance of Stanford pitching coach Tori Nyberg.
Freshman NiJaree Canady and 4th-year junior Alana Vawter, along with junior Regan Krause, combined to absolutely dominate their competition through much of the season. Collectively, the group gave up just ninety earned runs through the entirety of the season – and held opponents to a .202 batting average as they did.
Canady dealt with some injury issues at one point in the season, falling just short of eligibility for All-American honors; had she qualified, the only question would have been how quickly her name was found on the list.
Vawter earned her own All-American honors, the first such award of her career. In detailing what the award meant to her, Vawter credited Nyberg for the relationship the two had forged and the work that her pitching coach had invested.
Also at the Women’s College World Series, Canady shared similarly.
Nyberg’s style is not a flashy one, but it is effective. For her efforts in shepherding and guiding the Stanford pitching staff to its highest heights, Tori Nyberg is the 2023 National Assistant Coach of the Year.
