Division II Softball's Best Celebrated for 2023 Season

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The ICCAC Division II Region 11 Softball All-Region teams were announced along with individual awards for Offensive Player, Defensive Player, Pitcher, and Coach of the Year Awards on Wednesday. 

NIACC took home two of the individual awards with Laken Lienhard winning Offensive Player of the Year and Matt Egger being voted Coach of the Year.

Lienhard was second in the conference with a .480 batting average and was first in doubles with a total of 27. The First Team All-Region utility selection placed third in SLG% with a .933 mark and second in OBP with a .572. She leads the country in doubles with 27 and was 15th in walks with 30. 

Lienhard was also the Trojan's No. 1 pitcher this season. She had the third-most innings pitched with 136 innings and an ERA of 2.73. She struck out 126 batters and was 19-5 on the year. 

Egger, in just his second season, helped lead the Trojans to an overall record of 36-13 with a winning percentage of .735 -- a team that won just three games a year ago. The Trojans became the first team since the A-B Tournament split in 2015 other than DMACC and Kirkwood to host, locking up the No. 2 seed after a 19-5 conference season.

The Pitcher of the Year Award was presented to Sydney Kennedy of DMACC. She has the second-best ERA in the conference at 2.21 and she gave up the least number of homers of pitchers who threw more than 120 innings this season. Kennedy had the second-most strikeouts in the conference with 213 and had the best K/7, averaging 11.18 strikeouts per contest. She won a league-high 21 games, with just four losses. 

Iowa Lakes' outfielder Alyssa Thorson won the award of Defensive Player of the Year. Thorson had the sixth-best fielding percentage and committed just one error throughout the entire season. In conference games, the First Team selection ended the season with the best fielding percentage out of the entire conference with 1.000. 

Active on the base paths as well, Thorson was second in the conference in stolen bases with 37. 

Peggy Klingler of Kirkwood was one of the two First Team All-Region catchers, alongside NIACC's Bri McPoland. 

Klingler was seventh in both total chances and putouts in conference play behind the plate. At the plate, she knocked in 34 runs in 144 at-bats, along with placing inside the top 10 in walks. 

McPoland ended with a .996 fielding percentage which placed her second overall in the conference. She placed inside the top 20 in runs and walks as well.

Besides Kennedy, the two other First Team All-Region pitchers were Kara Maiers of Kirkwood and MacKenna Jones of Iowa Lakes. 

Maiers had the best ERA out of everyone in the conference at 2.00. The Kirkwood product was third in strikeouts and tied for fifth place in wins with 15. 

Jones led all the conference in complete games with a total number of 26. Jones also led the way with 252 total strikeouts in 184.2 innings pitched. She had a record of 18-8 and an ERA of 2.77. Jones was one of the Lakers' top hitters this season -- she had 13 home runs and 59 RBI.

Infielders Emily Jones, Amber McKinney, and Bryn Bohmann all joined the First Team, all as sophomores. 

Jones of NIACC, was one of a few players who tied for the most home runs in conference play with 11 and she happened to turn the most double plays in the field with seven. 

McKinney placed first in RBI overall (73) and total bases (150), along with tying for first place with sacrifice flies (8)  in 56 games played. She had 11 home runs in conference play as well -- with 15 total for the season.

Bohmann ended with the best slugging percentage in the conference at .985 and was third in batting average with .474.

Kirkwood teammates, Emilee Linder and Sydney Roe both join the First Team as infield selections as well. Linder stole a total of 13 bases during the season and had 93 assists which was the third-best. 

Roe hit 16 home runs in her 55 games, which was third-best in the conference, and she was fifth in both RBI (62) and total bases (137) this season.

The final First Team All-Region infielders are Amaya Snyder and Maddy Kearns from DMACC. Snyder was second in the league in doubles (25), triples (4) and total bases (144). She had 72 hits and a slugging percentage of .889.

Kearns led the conference with 86 hits in 57 games. Along the way, she hit for average at .465 and had an on-base percentage of .502.

In addition to Thorson, First Team All-Region selections for outfield included Kendal Clark, Riley Gilroy, and Grace Lubben. 

Clark, last year's Offensive Player of the Year, led the entire conference in on-base percentage with a stunning .585. She also had the most home runs with 19 and was second in SLG% at .964.

Gilroy from Iowa Central played in 57 games, batted 44 runners in, and had 130 total bases on the season. 

Lubben, a Kirkwood outfielder, hit 15 home runs and stole 24 bases as well. Lubben walked 42 times which was second-most in the conference.

The lone designated player on the first team ballot was NIACC's Brynnlin Kroymann. The freshman contributed 66 hits, 18 doubles, and 51 RBIs in 170 at-bats. Kroymann batted .388 on the season and had an on-base percentage of .441.

DIVISION II

*At-Large Selections

Defensive Player of the Year: Alyssa Thorson, Iowa Lakes
Offensive Player of the Year: Laken Lienhard, NIACC
Pitcher of the Year: Sydney Kennedy, DMACC
Coach of the Year: Matt Egger, NIACC