After winning the GNAC regular season title over the weekend, five Wildcat softball players and head coach Mike Larabee received awards on Monday.

Larabee received GNAC Coach of the Year for leading the Wildcats to a 34-13 regular season record.

Larabee joins Gary Frederick (who the Wildcats’ softball field is named after) as the only two coaches to receive the honor at Central.

The first thing that came to Larabee’s mind after winning the award was the help he received from his assistant coaches Jim Peterson, Mike Myers and graduate assistant Keilani Cruz.

“We all have our different strengths and weaknesses, [I like] how we blend together to get the most out of our players,” Larabee said.

Central won the conference title after it was picked to finish fifth in the GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll.

The Wildcats had a 14-win improvement from last season’s 20-23 record, when the team failed to qualify for the GNAC conference tournament.

Last season, Larabee coached the University of Arkansas, but after a 1-23 record in Southeastern Conference play, he resigned and came back to his home state to coach the Wildcats.

Junior pitcher Kiana Wood received GNAC Pitcher of the Year and was named First Team All-GNAC.

“I found out about it in the locker room,” Wood said. “I didn’t know [and Larabee] didn’t know.”

Wood finished the year with a 17-5 record and a 2.51 ERA, which was good for third in the GNAC. She pitched 142 innings with seven complete games and 61 strikeouts.

Over the first two weekends of the season, Wood started out with back-to-back GNAC Pitcher of the Week awards. She had a 1.45 ERA and three complete games over that span.

“She’s matured a lot, got more consistent and really nailed down her location,” said senior catcher Austin Wilkerson, who caught all of Wood’s games. “She’s been really successful with that this year [and] been a tough pitcher for hitters to face.”

Junior first basemen Kailyn Campbell, also received First Team All-GNAC with the second best batting average in the conference hitting .433. Campbell started every game for the Wildcats and had 13 doubles and seven home runs, one of which was of the inside the park variety.

Wilkerson joined Campbell and Wood on the first team with a .397 batting average, 15 doubles and eight home runs.

Throughout the season, Larabee has complimented Wilkerson catching, calling her the anchor on defense, citing her ability to shut down the running game.

Sophomore outfielder Celine Fowler received a second team all-conference nod after having the seventh-best batting average in GNAC at .404.

“A third of the way [through the season] we bumped her into that leadoff spot and she blossomed,” Larabee said.

Larabee said she went through some growing pains but she has done a good job getting balls in the gap.

“I’ve been pretty hard on her, being the center fielder,” Larabee said. “There’s a lot of expectations.”

Senior third basemen, Alexa Olague, has been one of the team’s most consistent players and earned an honorable mention to the all-conference teams. She played in every game for the Wildcats and hit .299 on the season.

“I was disappointed she didn’t get at least second team,” Larabee said. “I think, both offensively and defensively, when you put her skill set together she should’ve been a second nominee for sure.”

The Wildcats tied their second-best win total with 34 wins this year, three-shy of a program best 37 wins in 2010.