Ivy League Pitcher of the Year Rachel Brown (left) and Co-Player of the Year Jane Alexander (right) (Harvard Athletic Communications).

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – After a stellar season that saw the Harvard softball team capture its second straight Ivy League championship, the Crimson placed 11 players on the All-Ivy League teams and yielded the league Pitcher of the Year and Co-Player of the Year. The league announced its yearly awards Thursday.  

For the second year in a row, pitcher Rachel Brown was dubbed the league's Pitcher of the Year, becoming just the fourth player in league history to earn the award twice. She is the first Harvard pitcher to earn the award twice and joins Tiffany Whitton '03 as the only Harvard players to earn All-Ivy League first team accolades for four years. Brown holds a 19-5 record on the season to go along with a 1.34 earned-run average and 232 strikeouts, both tops in the Ivy League. She was named Ivy League Pitcher of the Week a record five times this season, and twirled a three-hit shutout against Penn in Game 1 of the Ivy League Championship Series in her most recent start.

Co-Player of the Year Jane Alexander saved her breakout year for her senior season. The top hitter on the league's top offensive team, Alexander led the Ivy League with 60 hits on the year and also tied for the top mark in total bases (90), while placing second in runs scored (32), tied for first in doubles (13) and first in triples (4). She has started every game this season at shortstop for the Crimson. Alexander is Harvard's second-straight Player of the Year award winner as Ellen Macadam '11 earned last year's accolade.

A year removed from receiving Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors, third baseman Kasey Lange earned a unanimous choice to the All-Ivy first team, leading the league in RBI for the second year in a row. She batted an impressive .378 on the season, and was second in the league with six home runs and 54 hits. Junior Ashley Heritage rounded out Harvard's first-team selections after earning a second-team nod last season. Heritage batted .295 on the season for the Crimson, scored 21 runs and led the team with 10 steals in 2012.

Harvard dominated the second team selections with seven players earning nods. Sophomore pitcher Laura Ricciardone earned her second All-Ivy second team accolade of her career after going 14-6 on the season and a perfect 8-0 in league action. Classmate and catcher Allison Scott also earned the second Ivy second team nod of her career, posting a .396 batting average in conference play this season. Senior first baseman Whitney Shaw was also named to the second team after bashing three home runs and driving in 13 runs in league play.

Alexander joined outfielders Shelbi Olson and Stephanie Regan on the second team. It marks Regan's second All-Ivy nod after she batted .381 with 10 RBI in Ivy play this year. Olson earned her first conference award, hitting at a .313 clip in conference action and going a perfect 3 for 3 on steals. Freshman Adrienne Hume appeared on the All-Ivy second team as the designated player, batting .394 in 15 Ivy games this season. Classmate Katherine Lantz earned All-Ivy honorable mention accolades in her first season with the Crimson.

Harvard is next in action Friday, May 18 in the NCAA Seattle Regional. The Crimson faces host No. 16 Washington at Husky Softball Stadium at 6 p.m. PST (9 p.m. EST).

Co-Players of the Year
Jane Alexander, Harvard (Sr., Palo Alto, Calif.)
Stephanie Thompson, Brown (Jr., Chino, Calif.)

Pitcher of the Year
Rachel Brown, Harvard (Sr., San Diego)*

Rookie of the Year
Alexis Borden, Penn (Fr., Yorba Linda, Calif.)

First Team All-Ivy
P – Rachel Brown, Harvard (Sr., San Diego)*
P – Alexis Borden, Penn (Fr., Yorba Linda, Calif.)*
C – Kristen Towne, Cornell (Jr., Brecksville, Ohio)
1B – Kate Strobel, Brown (Sr., Denver)
2B – Jennifer Ong, Yale (Jr., Pleasanton, Calif.)
3B – Kasey Lange, Harvard (So., Ladera Ranch, Calif.)*
SS – Stephanie Thompson, Brown (Jr., Chino, Calif.)
OF – Ashley Heritage, Harvard (Jr., College Station, Texas)
OF – Lauren Bucolo, Cornell (So., Palo Alto, Calif.)
OF – Brooke Coloma, Penn (Jr., Martinez, Calif.)
U – Elysse Gorney, Penn (So., Orlando, Fla.)
DP – Tristin Moone, Columbia (So., Waterflow, N.M.)

Second Team (13)^
P – Laura Ricciardone, Harvard (So., Slidell, La.)
P – Alyson Onyon, Cornell (So., Saratoga Springs, N.Y.)
C - Allison Scott, Harvard (So., Alpine, Calif.)
1B - Whitney Shaw, Harvard (Sr., San Francisco)
2B – Jenny Edwards, Cornell (Morton Grove, Ill.)
2B – Samantha Erosa, Penn (Jr., Bronx, N.Y.)
3B – Christy Nelson, Yale (Jr., San Diego)
SS - Jane Alexander, Harvard (Sr., Palo Alto, Calif.)
OF – Shelbi Olson, Harvard (So., Lenexa, Kan.)
OF – Stephanie Regan, Harvard (Jr., Humble, Texas)
OF – Sydney Turchin, Penn (Fr., Princeton Junction, N.J.)
U – Karina Rios, Penn (Fr., Cooper City, Fla.)
DP – Adrienne Hume, Harvard (Fr., Jacksonville, Fla.)

Honorable Mention (12)
P - Alex Peyton, Princeton (Jr., Fullerton, Calif.)
P – Kristen Rumley, Dartmouth (Fr., Katy, Texas)
C – Liz Caggiano, Columbia (Fr., Bellaire, Texas)
1B – Kat Hicks, Dartmouth (Sr., Templeton, Calif.)
2B – Katherine Lantz, Harvard (Fr., Parkland, Fla.)
3B – Kayla Dahlerbruch, Penn (So., West Hills, Calif.)
SS – Meg Johnson, Yale (Sr., New Milford, Conn.)
OF - Tori Balta, Yale (So., Valencia, Calif.)
OF – Jessica Melendez, Penn (Jr., Miami)
OF – Kayla Shimoda, Columbia (Fr., Aiea, Hawai'i)
OF – Avery Silverstein, Brown (Jr., Woodbridge, Conn.)
DP – Cara Worden, Princeton (Fr., Santa Ana, Calif.)

* - denotes unanimous selection
^ - team expanded to 13 due to a tie in voting