Meet the All-Iowa high school softball award winners for the 2023 Iowa high school season

One player led her team both at and behind home plate, while one coach helped his program win its first-ever state title.

The Des Moines Register is honored to announce its All-Iowa softball award winners for the 2023 high school season.

This year’s selections include both Player of Coach of the Year. The selections were made based on in-season results, Register staff observations and consultations with softball contacts throughout the state.

2023 All-Iowa Softball Player of the Year: Sydney Potter, Southeast Polk

Sydney Potter isn’t the first softball player in her family to make their mark at Southeast Polk, following in her mother’s footsteps at the same school.

“She was an amazing softball player, so to have her as a mom and have her as a role model is definitely a big deal to me,” Potter said.

Potter may have picked up her love of the sport from her mother, but there is no doubt she made a name for herself as one of the state’s top softball players.

She helped Southeast Polk qualify for the state tournament each of the past three seasons, with the Rams making it to the state semifinal game this year. Potter recorded 55 RBIs, 16 home runs — the most in Class 5A — and a .470 batting average in 2023. She has led 5A in home runs for the last three seasons, posting a personal best of 19 as a sophomore.

“(It’s) just working with my hitting coach,” Potter said of her success at the plate. “We focus a lot on just making good contact and when you make good contact, home runs come with that. I try not to necessarily focus on hitting a home run. I just focus on making good contact with the ball and knowing what I have to do with my swing in order for that to happen.”

Southeast Polk may not have won the state title this season as Potter and her teammates hoped, but she is happy to have finished her high school career with a trip to Fort Dodge.

It’s an all-too-familiar place for Potter — who has been the Rams’ statistical leader since freshman year and who coach Tia Stiles described as the “mama bear” of the group. She was able to finish high school softball on the biggest stage in Iowa, alongside some almost lifelong teammates.

More: Here's how seven seniors led Southeast Polk softball to the state tournament

“We’ve been playing together for such a long time,” Potter said. “Before high school ball even started, we pushed each other to be the best. We wanted each other to succeed. We push each other every day in practice, and I think that’s why we were so successful this season.”

Potter’s season didn’t end by hoisting a state title. But she did learn to relax and have fun, because “that’s when you play your best.”

Besides, while her high school career may be finished, Potter is not done playing softball. She will continue her catching career at Creighton.

“I’m most excited to be playing for the head coach (Krista Wood),” Potter said. “She is an amazing coach, and she has been believing in me for several years. Just knowing that I’m going somewhere where she can push me to be the best version of myself makes me very excited for the future.”

2023 All-Iowa Softball Coach of the Year: Brett Delaney, Ankeny Centennial

Brett Delaney took a business approach to this softball season.

But the players on his roster, well they wanted to keep things loose, more fun.

“Over the course of the season, they kept adding different things to the dugout,” Delaney said of his team’s antics. “It started out with Dinger Dee Dee, and then the horse came out. Next thing you know, we have cowboy hats in the dugout.”

From the adopted team mascot — who had her own senior poster — to the state tournament souvenirs, Delaney acknowledged that the fun his team created led to a mostly pressure-free environment. The love of the game coupled with a talented roster created the perfect storm for Centennial softball.

The Jaguars outscored opponents 29-2 through three games in the state tournament and beat Pleasant Valley, 11-0, in five innings to capture Ankeny Centennial’s first softball state title.

More: Ankeny Centennial crushes Pleasant Valley to claim its first state softball championship

For Delaney, who started at Centennial softball at the same time as the seniors on his roster, all the credit goes to his players and coaching staff.

“This was my very first group, and I remember when they came in as eighth graders and had an undefeated eighth-grade season,” Delaney said. “That group was able to stick together pretty much their whole high school career, both on and off the field.

“The last four years have been pretty impressive…and some of those performances they had against Pleasant Valley, those don’t happen four years ago. I was most proud when they made that final out and how we made that final out and it was just a fun thing to see for those seniors.”

More: Ankeny Centennial's unsung hero, Mariah Belzer, pushes Jaguars softball to state title

Delaney and the Jaguars are still celebrating the championship.

But with a host of rising seniors and some impressive young guns returning, Centennial softball will be one to watch next season.

“We know we’re going to have a bit of a target on our back now,” Delaney said. “We’re defending 5A state champions, and no one is gonna give it to you. Night in and night out, we play the toughest competition. But we’re very excited with where we are, and as long as they continue to work next year, it’s going to be fun.”

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Sydney Potter, Brett Delaney earn All-Iowa softball honors