By Blake Colston
Sports Editor
Piedmont’s Karissa Fiegener has been named Oklahoma’s Gatorade Softball Player of the Year.
Fiegener is the first Lady Wildcat in program history to earn the award since its inception in 1985.
The 6-foot junior shortstop led the Wildcats (35-7) to the Class 5A state championship this past season while batting .532 with 11 home runs, 47 RBI, 45 runs scored and 23 stolen bases. She posted an on-base percentage of .612 and a slugging percentage of 1.032.
“Karissa deserves every bit of recognition that she gets. It’s not often that your most talented player is one of your most coachable kids,” PHS coach Keith Coleman said. “Figgy is the absolute best teammate and has always been a team-first player. She is a great ambassador for Piedmont, our school, and our program.”
A National Fastpitch Coaches Association First Team All-Region selection, Fiegener was also the District 5A-2 Player of the Year.
“Karissa Fiegener was the best player that we faced all year,” Chris Jensen, head coach at Enid High School said. “She possesses every tool that you could want in a player: power, average, size, speed and arm.”
Fiegener, who will play in college at Grand Canyon University, also maintained a 3.78 GPA last school year.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Fiegener as Oklahoma’s best high school softball player.
The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection
Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.
Fiegener joins recent Gatorade Oklahoma Softball Players of the Year Emmy Guthrie (2020-21, Lone Grove High School), McKenzie Wagoner (2019-20, Newcastle High School), Macy McAdoo (2018-19, Tuttle High School), and Olivia Rains (2017-18, Pryor High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
Gatorade has a long-standing history of serving athlete communities and understands how sports instill valuable lifelong skills on and off the field.
Through Gatorade’s “Play it Forward” platform, Fiegener has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national organization of their choosing that helps young athletes realize the benefits of playing sports.
Fiegener is also eligible to submit a short video explaining why the organization they chose is deserving of one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be announced throughout the year.
