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Bates a repeat winner
Sis Bates 5
Sis Bates was voted Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season. - photo by SCOTT EKLUND/Red Box Pictures

Ceres High School grad Sis Bates made school history on May 8 when she became the first player from the University of Washington softball program to win the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year award for the second time.

Only two other players in the history of the conference have been named DPOTY multiple times in their careers, including Rosey Neill (Stanford, 2008-10) and Lauren Lappin (Stanford, 2005-06).

"She’s always taken a lot of pride in her defense. She tries to convert every touch into an out. They work on speed and direction a lot at practice. She gets a good first step because of that.”
John Bates

“It’s pretty surreal,” said John Bates, Sis’ father. “Last year, she called me to tell me. This year, I saw it on Twitter. I didn’t choke up but I had to read it again. She’s always taken a lot of pride in her defense. She tries to convert every touch into an out. They work on speed and direction a lot at practice. She gets a good first step because of that.”

“It doesn’t surprise me one bit,” said Angela Durossette, Bates’ head coach at Ceres High for two seasons. “Everything about her is smooth. She’s fun to watch.”

Bates committed just one error while posting the best fielding percentage for all middle infielders in the Pac-12.

The junior has a .980 career fielding percentage, first among shortstops in Washington history.

She’s made just 11 errors in 178 career games.

“That softball IQ was there at a very young age,” John said. “She was doing pump fakes and backdoors at 10.”

A standout on offense as well, Bates ranked first in the Pac-12 in runs with 30, second in hits (35) and triples (2), and third in batting average (.438) and on-base percentage (.500).

She also became the sixth Washington player in program history with 200-plus hits in their first three seasons.

Bates filled a major role as Washington posted a 45-7 overall record and won a share of the Pac-12 championship (20-4) during the regular season.

The Huskies earned the No. 3 seed for the NCAA Division-I Tournament.

“She wants to be the best,” Durossette said. “She has the ability. She has the full package. She’s been so successful on defense because her release is so fast. She’s so quick to know where the ball is being hit. A lot of other players don’t have that mentality.”