SIOUX FALLS, S.D.—South Dakota softball players Aleesia Sainz (Casa Grande, Arizona) and Clara Edwards (Clay Center, Kansas) have been named Summit League Players to Watch as selected by the league's head coaches and announced Wednesday by the league office.
 
Sainz is a first-team all-Summit League honoree and a Player of the Year nominee who led the conference with a 1.166 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) in 2022. She hit a team-high .343 with 11 home runs, 43 RBIs and 37 runs scored. The senior third baseman also had 12 doubles, a triple and was walked 34 times, 14^th-most in Summit League history. Sainz has started 109 games over the last three seasons.
 
Edwards earned second-team all-Summit League honors as a true freshman last season when she went 16-14 in the circle with a 2.75 ERA. She led the Summit with 193 2/3 innings pitched and appeared in 40 of 53 games with 43 starts. Her 120 strikeouts ranked sixth in the Summit. Edwards also homered and drove in four runs in 25 at bats.
 
Sainz and Edwards are two of seven returning all-Summit League players for South Dakota. Others include fifth-year outfielder Courtney Wilson, senior utility player Jordyn Pender, junior outfielder Gabby Moser, junior catcher Bela Goerke and sophomore infielder Tatum Villotta.