Legendary coach Mike Candrea and former All-American Brittany Lastrapes were among the group officially inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday night.
The pair were part of an 8-member Class of 2022 that were permanently enshrined in a Tucson ceremony. Candrea’s election to the Hall of Fame came the year following his retirement as the Wildcats’ head coach, while Lastrapes earned induction a decade following her own playing career.
A coach who became a household name in the sport of softball during his career at UA, Candrea spent thirty-six seasons as the Wildcats’ head coach. He guided the program to eight national championships, 24 Women’s College World Series appearances, and 1,674 wins – a number that made him the all-time winningest coach at the time of his retirement after the 2021 season. He was also named national Coach of the Year four times during his career and retired after leading UA to back-to-back WCWS appearances in 2019 and ’21.
Four times an All-American during her career as a Wildcat, Lastrapes led all Division 1 hitters in runs scored, hits, and total bases during the 2009 season and led the PAC-12 conference in runs scored and hits in both 2009 and 2010. A speedy outfielder, she was three times named an all-conference first-team selection and finished her career among the all-time top ten in four program statistical categories and three PAC-12 (then the PAC-10) conference categories.
Upon her induction, Lastrapes became the 26th Arizona softball player to be enshrined in the program’s Hall of Fame. Candrea joins his program alumni, as well as each of the national championship teams over which he presided, in enshrinement.
