Lauren Kanai
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- Height:
- 5-8
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- Weight:
- 0
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- Hometown:
- Grand Rapids, MI
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- Position:
- P/1B
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- Year:
- JR
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- Bats/Throws:
- R/R
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- High School:
- Forest Hills Eastern
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- Years Coached (at Taylor):
- Forest Hills Eastern
Bio
2020 at Taylor: Started in all 14 games for Taylor in her junior campaign … Tied for first in both the NAIA and the Crossroads League in fielding percentage at 1.000 … Ranked tied for first in the Crossroads League in doubles (8), second in slugging percentage (.696), third in runs batted in (16), fourth in total bases (32), tied for fourth in runs scored (14), ninth in total hits (19), and 11th in batting average (.413) … Ranked first on the Trojans in batting average, first in hits, first in doubles, first in slugging percentage, second in runs scored, and second in RBI … Was TU’s best hitter in their 12 non-league games, batting .385 with 15 hits, six doubles, one triple, and 14 RBI, all team highs … Hit .522 with 12 hits, seven runs scored, five doubles, and nine RBI in TU’s seven contests against Top-25 or RV teams … Bat .474 with 18 hits, 12 runs scored, seven doubles, and 16 RBI in Taylor’s 11 wins … Finished with eight multi-hit games … Put together a five-game hitting streak from February 21 to March 11, batting .470 with eight hits, four doubles, five runs scored, and three RBI … Shined in the circle as well for the Trojans, recording seven appearances, four starts, and a 5-0 record … Ranked third in the Crossroads League in wins (5), sixth in strikeouts per game (5.19), tied for seventh in strikeouts (22), tied for eighth in runs allowed (15), and tied for eighth in walks allowed (8) … Ranked first on the Trojans in wins, first in innings pitched (29.2), second in strikeouts (22), and third in opposing batting average (.269) … Won all five of her contests in Taylor’s non-league schedule, recording a 2.25 ERA, 28 innings pitched, and 18 strikeouts … Was a perfect 3-0 against teams either in the Top-25 or receiving votes, ranking first in innings pitched (19) and second in strikeouts (17) … Was named both the Crossroads Player and Pitcher of the Week for January 27 to February 2 … Hit .538 with a 1.077 slugging percentage, recording two doubles, one triple, one home run, and seven RBI … In the circle, Kanai went 2-0 with a save in three games, pitching 13.2 innings and striking out 10 batters … Collected her second straight CoSIDA Academic All-District honor, recording a 3.70 GPA in graphic art … Garnered Academic All-Crossroads League honors … Named an NAIA Scholar-Athlete.
2019 at Taylor: Played in 48 games for the Trojans in her sophomore season, starting in 45 of them … Recorded career-highs with a .344 batting average, .592 slugging percentage, .407 on-base percentage, 43 hits, 27 runs, and 32 runs batted in as TU’s designated player … Tied for first in the NAIA in fielding percentage at 1.000 in 40 chances … Tied for fifth in the Crossroads League in home runs with seven … Finished second on the Trojans in slugging percentage, tied for third in RBI, fourth in batting average, fifth in doubles and sixth in hits … Hit .464 in TU’s 14 non-league games, collecting 14 hits, two triples, two home runs and an .893 slugging percentage … Batted .392 at home, tallying 20 hits, 12 runs scored, and 12 RBI in 17 games … Recorded 15 multi-hit games, finishing with three hits in two of those games … Finished with a career-high five RBI against Huntington on April 13 … Put together a nine-game hitting streak from March 21 to March 29, batting .500 with 16 hits, three doubles, three home runs and 11 runs scored … Also made an impact in the circle for the Trojans, tallying 22 appearances with 21 starts and finishing 12-4 … Was tied for first on the team in wins and second in innings pitched with 91.0 … Posted an earned run average of 2.00 or better in nine of her 12 wins, allowing just 37 hits, nine runs and six earned runs while collecting 33 strikeouts … Was Taylor’s most efficient pitcher on the road and in neutral games, posting a team-best nine wins and posting 41 strikeouts in 14 starts … Went 4-1 in non-league games with a 2.60 ERA and led the team in strikeouts with 24 in those contests … Was named Crossroads League Player of the Week from February 25 to March 3, finishing with 10 hits in 20 at-bats to go along with four runs, six RBI, a home run, a triple, and a 1.100 slugging percentage in a four-game series against IU Southeast … Was a CoSIDA NAIA Academic All-District II Winner, finishing with a 3.68 grade point average.
2018 at Taylor: Started 41 games in 45 appearances as a freshman for TU … Tallied 37 hits, seven doubles and seven home runs … Knocked in 30 Taylor runners … Finished 10th in the Crossroads League with 25 runs batted in during league play … Hit six of her seven home runs in CL play, ranking fifth in the league … Had home runs in back-to-back games on two occasions … Had four RBIs in a game on three instances, helping TU to a 3-0 record … Recorded two-or-more hits on 10 occasions as the team had a mark of 8-2 during that span … Tallied 27 appearances inside the circle and posted a 14-6 record … Led the team in appearances, wins, innings pitched with 106 and hurled 66 strikeouts … Earned nine wins during league play, which was sixth best among CL pitchers … Tossed 72 innings during league play, ranking 14th … Struck out 40 batters during league play … Had 69 putouts in the field and had 17 assists … Named a Honorable Mention All-Crossroads League performer.
Prep: Earned four varsity letters at Forest Hills Eastern High … Named All-Ottawa-Kent Conference and all-district pitcher all four years … Earned all-region distinction three seasons … Participated in All-Star and All-American games at the 2017 Colorado Sparkler … Holds Forest Hills Eastern career pitching records for ERA, wins and strikeouts, while also holding career base hits, batting average and RBI records at the plate and set the school’s single-season home runs record … Played club softball with Finesse Fastpitch … Member of National Honor Society … Graduated summa cum laude.
Personal: Daughter of Scott and Chris Kanai … Majoring in graphic art at Taylor.
Photos
