MISSOULA — Stef Ewing was voted co-Coach of the Year and multiple players from the Montana softball team also were recognized on Thursday as the All-Big Sky Conference teams and individual award winners were announced by the league office.
Kailee Mejia was named Freshman of the Year, while sophomore pitcher Carah Sweet was voted co-Newcomer of the Year.
Sophomore Anna Cockhill earned first-team All-Big Sky honors, with Sweet and fellow sophomores Grace Lopez and JoJo Christiaens getting named to the second team.
Mejia and sophomore Mackenzie Bekofsky collected honorable mention accolades.
Montana’s four first- and second-team selections are the most for the Grizzlies since 2021 and the third-most in program history. The six players who earned recognition are all underclassmen.
Ewing’s team was picked last in the preseason poll but played Idaho State on Sunday with a chance to win the program’s first regular-season Big Sky championship.
The Grizzlies would go 9-6 in league after going 2-28 the previous two seasons and tie for second behind the preseason-favorite Bengals, Montana’s best finish since 2017 and second-best finish in program history.
Montana swept Portland State and Weber State, and took games from Northern Colorado, Sacramento State and Idaho State, snapping multiple long losing streaks along the way.
The only other time the Grizzlies won at least one game in every league series came in 2017, when Montana won the Big Sky tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament.
Ewing joins Jamie Pinkerton, who was honored in 2016 and ’17, as Montana’s winners of Big Sky Coach of the Year honors.
Ewing shared this year’s accolade with Idaho State’s Andrew Rich, whose team won the regular-season title and takes 34 wins into the postseason.
If Montana’s season has been a great story, Mejia has authored one of its best chapters, going from injured the first 27 games to earning Freshman of the Year honors in just over a month on the field.
Mejia suffered a broken foot shortly before the season opened in San Diego in early February.
“We had to deal with the hand we were dealt,” said Ewing, “but we knew we had this sleeping giant we were going to get back. There was no doubt in my mind that she was going to be somebody who would really help us offensively and defensively.”
Mejia made her season debut on March 23 and through 22 games is batting .410 while playing an error-free first base.
She has gone hitless in just three of Montana’s last 20 games. Her 13-game hitting streak that came to an end on Sunday is the fifth-best in program history and matches the best ever by a Montana freshman.
“She didn’t have time to get adjusted. We just kind of threw her into the fire and didn’t know what was going to happen,” said Ewing. “What happened is she’s been phenomenal.
“You notice Kailee when she steps into the box and takes a swing. That’s because she doesn’t get cheated. She’s a player. Not bad for a freshman who’s played half the season.”
She becomes Montana’s third Big Sky Freshman of the Year, joining Lexie Brenneis (2015) and Sydney Stites (2016).
“She was the first kid I had commit as soon as I got this job,” said Ewing of Mejia. “She was a no-doubter to me, the type of kid we need to change the program. And she’s just getting started.”
Sweet becomes Montana’s second-ever Newcomer of the Year, joining Cami Sellers (2019). Sweet leads Montana with seven wins and a 4.08 ERA in her first season since transferring from Sacred Heart.
“When she came in in the fall, you have to get comfortable because you can feel like a freshman all over again,” said Ewing. “She has really settled in.”
That comfort took a hit in late February when Montana’s pitching coach departed the program after 15 games. Already working with the team’s hitters, Ewing added pitchers to her purview as well.
“What you saw through the evolution of the season is that we had a better player-coach relationship because I started spending a lot more time in the bullpen,” said Ewing.
After taking the loss in the series finale against Pacific to drop to 0-5 on the season, Sweet got the win in two of Montana’s three victories over Seattle and hasn’t stopped producing good results.
She has won seven of her last eight decisions and was Montana’s Game 1 starter in all five of the Grizzlies’ league series.
Montana won all five of those games, with Sweet going 4-0 with a 2.10 ERA.
“She has come through in big moments for us,” said Ewing. “She really understands what pitches she wants to throw in certain situations and understands where she wants to put it.”
Montana’s last non-hitting pitcher to earn All-Big Sky honors was Michaela Hood in 2017. Sweet has thrown a team-high 84.0 innings this season with only 31 extra-base hits allowed.
“You’re not comfortable in the box with a spinny curveball like Carah throws,” said Ewing. “It’s got great movement. When she pairs it with her change-up, they both look the same coming out of her hand.”
Cockhill was voted honorable mention All-Big Sky as a freshman, then made the jump to first-team after a breakout sophomore campaign.
She joins former Griz shortstops Delene Colburn (2016), Maygen McGrath (2022) and Riley Peschek (2024) as first-team picks.
“The coaches in the Big Sky understand that she’s our engine,” said Ewing. “You can’t help but notice Anna when you watch one of our games.”
Cockhill started all 50 games at short as a freshman, when she batted .283. She had seven extra-base hits, one of those being a home run, and drove in 14.
It took her three games this season to hit more home runs than she did as a freshman, and she hasn’t stopped delivering at the plate, whether batting leadoff, which she did the first month and a half of the season, or in the No. 3 spot, where she’s mostly batted since mid-March.
She is hitting .304 and with improved power numbers. She leads the team with nine home runs, has 18 extra-base hits and has driven in a team-high 37 runs.
“When you look at the power numbers from last year to this year and see the amount she has improved, it’s incredible,” said Ewing. “Teams know they better have a plan on how they’re going to pitch to her.
“Last year she showed a lot of raw ability. This year it’s polished. She went from being a tremendous athlete to also being a great softball player.”
One of the reasons Montana went from eight wins last season to 19 (and counting) this year has been the growth of last year’s freshman class into productive sophomores.
Nobody is a better example than Lopez, who hit .200 last season with nine hits over 27 games played.
Lopez had 10 hits in five games on Montana’s opening road trip to UC San Diego, took a .438 batting average into April and is a one-time Big Sky Player of the Week.
She leads the Grizzlies with 53 hits, 41 runs scored and 11 stolen bases, and is batting .363 with 20 extra-base hits. She is Montana’s first second baseman to earn All-Big Sky honors.
“Grace has been the standard in terms of just bringing it,” said Ewing. “She can steal bases and she plays a great second base. To have that combination (of Lopez and Cockhill) up the middle is fantastic for our pitchers to be able to feed the defense.”
Lopez made 18 starts at second last season. She has started 46 of 49 games this season, missing only the Seattle series, which she sat out.
“What an incredible story for someone who wasn’t in the lineup or only in the lineup a little bit last year,” said Ewing.
“I told her, if you want this, if you want the starting job, you can’t let anyone take it from you. She went home over the summer, put the work in, then got back here and … boom.”
Christiaens largely followed the same path as Lopez, playing in 30 of 50 games last season, getting 21 starts at third and in the outfield, hitting .185 with three extra-base hits in 54 at-bats.
Christiaens had three extra-base hits in five games at UC San Diego to open the season and enters the postseason with a team-high 24. Her 16 doubles are one off the Big Sky high and tied for 30th nationally.
She went 6 for 10 in Montana’s road sweep of Weber State with six extra-base hits and followed that up with Big Sky Player of the Week honors.
Christiaens is batting .297 and ranks second behind Cockhill in runs batted in with 35.
“She’s gotten way better, way stronger. Her time in the weight room has been great for her. People didn’t even know who JoJo was, so for her to have the season she’s had, it’s pretty awesome,” said Ewing.
With Mejia out the season’s first 27 games, first base was largely held down by Christiaens. Since Mejia’s return, Christiaens has been playing left field. She also has made a start at third base, the position at which she made 12 starts as a freshman.
“You can put her anywhere on the field and she’ll play it and at a pretty high level,” said Ewing. “She is a great student and an A+ human being.”
Bekofsky is another freshman-to-sophomore success story. She had five hits in 40 at-bats (.125) in 2025, getting 13 starts across the three outfield spots.
She is one of Montana’s .300 hitters this season, batting .312. She ranks third on the team in average, hits (44), home runs (5), RBIs (33) and extra-base hits (17). She is 22 for 62 (.355) with runners in scoring position.
Bekofsky has made 41 starts in right field, five in center and has just two errors on the season in 80 chances.
“She has quietly been one of the top hitters on the team all year and has come through a lot for us,” said Ewing. “She is another kid who worked really hard in the offseason to be someone who is consistently in the lineup.
“We knew she was going to be one of our leaders in the outfield and she has been.”
Montana tied for second in the Big Sky and will take the No. 4 seed into next week’s conference tournament in Pocatello.
The Grizzlies (19-30, 9-6 BSC) will face No. 5 Weber State (13-40, 4-11 BSC) at 9 a.m. on Monday at ISU’s Direct Communications Field at Miller Ranch Stadium.
The winner will advance to play No. 1 Idaho State at 2 p.m. on Monday.
2026 Big Sky Conference Individual Award Winners
Player of the Year: Lafulafu Malepeai, Sacramento State
Pitcher of the Year: Marley Goluskin, Idaho State
Freshman of the Year: Kailee Mejia, Montana
Co-Newcomer of the Year: Carah Sweet, Montana/Madi Mendoza, Sacramento State
Co-Coach of the Year: Andrew Rich, Idaho State/Stef Ewing, Montana
First-Team All-Big Sky Conference
Catcher: Jenna Kearns, Idaho State *
First Base: Sydney Groves, Idaho State
Second Base: Katie Walling, Northern Colorado
Shortstop: Anna Cockhill, Montana
Third Base: Madison Evers-Lyles, Sacramento State
Outfield: Lafulafu Malepeai, Sacramento State *
Outfield: Alyssa Yee, Idaho State *
Outfield: Ava Brown, Idaho State
Pitcher: Marley Goluskin, Idaho State
Pitcher: Kasey Aguinaga, Idaho State
Pitcher/UTL: Sherreigh Nakoa-Chung, Portland State
Non-Pitcher/UTL: Ella Gonzales, Northern Colorado
* Unanimous selection
Second-Team All-Big Sky Conference
Catcher: Shannon Garcia, Sacramento State
First Base: Amailee Morales, Northern Colorado
Second Base: Grace Lopez, Montana
Shortstop: Camryn McDonald, Idaho State
Third Base: Breanna Lutz, Portland State
Outfield: Jordan McMahon, Weber State
Outfield: KK Christie, Northern Colorado
Outfield: Saskia Raab, Sacramento State
Pitcher: Alexa Ortiz, Sacramento State ^
Pitcher: Kennedie Bacon, Sacramento State ^
Pitcher: Carah Sweet, Montana ^
Non-Pitcher/UTL: Jojo Christiaens, Montana
^ Three-way tie in voting
Honorable Mention All-Big Sky Conference
Catcher: Jordan Hart, Weber State
First Base: Kailee Mejia, Montana
First Base: Apple Maldonado, Weber State
Second Base: Sadie Kirk, Weber State
Shortstop: Madi Mendoza, Sacramento State
Shortstop: Krista Francia, Northern Colorado
Third Base: Hayden Nelson, Northern Colorado
Outfield: Jaden Moore, Idaho State
Outfield: Mackenzie Bekofsky, Montana
Non-Pitcher/UTL: Kira Day, Idaho State
Non-Pitcher/UTL: Abigail Carsley, Portland State
