Oregon softball’s Brooke Yanez and Haley Cruse were named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List on Wednesday, joining a group of 50 players from around the nation. 

Cruse announced in May 2020 that she is returning to the team for her last year of eligibility after her senior season was cut short. She finished second in the Pac-12 with 37 hits, tied for second in stolen bases at 15 and fourth in batting average at .457. 

The fifth-year senior became the first player in program history to lead their team in batting average for three consecutive years, starting her sophomore season. She currently sits at sixth all-time at Oregon with a .373 career batting average. 

On Thursday, Cruse was also named to D1Softball’s Preseason All-America Second-Team. 

Yanez, the sophomore out of Ventura, Calif., made her stamp in her Oregon debut last year. She finished third in the conference with a team-high 94 strikeouts with a 1.56 ERA. Yanez also ended last season ranked 16th nationally with 10.5 strikeouts per seven innings. 

She made an immediate impact last year after transferring from UC Davis, earning NFCA National Pitcher of the Week honors following the opening weekend of 2020. 

Her season highlight came against BYU with the second-most strikeouts in school history at 17 and one of three players nationally to strikeout at least 17 in a game without any walks. Yanez led the team in innings pitched at 62.2 and strikeouts with 94. 

Oregon heads into the 2021 season ranked in the top 11 of two major national polls —  No. 10 in the NFCA Coaches’ Poll and No. 11 in the USA Softball Poll last week. 

Before their season was halted in March due to the pandemic, the team ended with a 22-2 season under second year head coach Melyssa Lombardi.

The Ducks bring back seven of their top hitters from last year and all four pitchers — Yanez, Jordan Dail, Samaria Diaz and Makenna Kliethermes — will be available on the mound. 

Adding to Oregon’s depth even more are the five new freshmen additions to the team this year that includes four infielders and one pitcher.