May 14, 2021

FOR RELEASE | ICCAC Division II All-Region Softball Teams Announced

After a year-long waiting period due to the COVID canceled 2020 season, DMACC and Kirkwood finished at the top of the standings once again in 2021. The impressive years that these two teams had were reflected in the 2021 Division II Softball All-Region teams announced on Thursday.

Along with the First, Second, and Honorable Mention teams, the special awards were handed out to recognize the Offensive Player, Defensive Player, Pitcher, and Coach of the Year.

The 2021 Offensive Player of the Year was DMACC's Sophie Maras. Maras led the conference in batting average (.537), home runs (28), RBI (89), runs (98), hits (109), triples (6), slugging percentage (1.099), and stolen bases (52). The home run and RBI totals also lead the NJCAA.

Maras picked up a hit in all but seven of her 59 games played this season and reached base in all but one game. She has 34 multi-hit games to date.

The Pitcher of the Year honor went to Kori Wedeking of Kirkwood. Wedeking leads the nation with 27 wins. Her 200 strikeouts lead the conference and puts her at No. 5 in the country heading into District play. She also led the conference with a 1.71 ERA.

In all, she has thrown 176.1 innings in 32 appearances.

Defensive Player of the Year went to Kirkwood's center fielder Randyn Carter. The sophomore only had three errors on the year to go with her 33 putouts and two outfield assists. She has a .921 fielding percentage this season.

Iowa Lakes' Katie King was named the 2021 Coach of the Year. After being picked to finish fifth in Division II, Iowa Lakes nearly forced and if necessary Region XI-A Championship game taking a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh against DMACC. King led her alma mater to a 24-22 record overall and a 22-18 record in conference. Iowa Lakes earned four selections to the All-Region teams with two players on the First Team and two on the Honorable Mention team.

Joining Wedeking and Carter, other Kirkwood players on First Team were catcher Peggy Klingler, infielder Sydney Albaugh, and outfielder Olivia Richards.

Albaugh has been the Eagles top power hitter, slugging 22 home runs and knocking in 70 RBI. She has an average of .415 with an OPS of 1.331.

Maras was joined on the First Team by pitcher Abby Flanagan, and fellow infielders Kaylie Reynolds and Delaney Kelley. Outfielder Abby Husak and Designated Player Jada Collins rounded out the selections for DMACC.

Flanagan sits with a record of 18-4 in 126.2 innings pitched with 148 strikeouts. Reynolds is another elite power hitter, with 23 home runs and 82 RBI she is in the top 6 in the NJCAA in each category.

Kelly is one of three Bears to have 75 RBI or more, which she has 77.

Iowa Central came in with three First Team selections with catcher Madysen Lange, infielder Loghen Schnetzer, and outfielder Carlie Thompson.

Schnetzer was another big bat in a league full of power. She was second among Division II players behind DMACC's Maras in home runs (27) and RBI (83).

Iowa Lakes had two First Team selections, Lexi Chase was the third pitcher selection and she was paired on the team with infielder Eliya Johnson who earned an at-large spot.

Chase did it all for the Lakers as she led the team in innings pitched (167) and batting average (.459). She had 29 extra-base hits with a 1.226 OPS.

Ellsworth and NIACC rounded out the First Team with one selection each, Gintare Paskocimaite represented the Panther and Laken Lienhard occupied the utility spot, being the lone Trojan selected.

First Team All-Region

Year	#	School	Name	Pos.
Fr.	14	Iowa Central	Madysen Lange	C
Fr.	18	Kirkwood	Peggy Klingler	C
Fr.	22	DMACC	Abby Flanagan	P
Fr.	14	Iowa Lakes	Lexi Chase	P
Fr.	2	Kirkwood	Kori Wedeking	P
Fr.	20	DMACC	Sophie Maras	INF
Fr.	12	DMACC	Kaylie Reynolds	INF
Fr.	10	DMACC	Delaney Kelley	INF
C-Fr.	8	Ellsworth	Gintare Paskocimaite*	INF
Fr.	13	Iowa Central	Loghen Schnetzer	INF
Fr.	22	Iowa Lakes	Eliya Johnson*	INF
So.	10	Kirkwood	Sydney Albaugh	INF
Fr.	35	DMACC	Abby Husak	OF
Fr.	4	Iowa Central	Carlie Thompson	OF
So.	15	Kirkwood	Randyn Carter	OF
So.	20	Kirkwood	Olivia Richards	OF
Fr.	8	DMACC	Jada Collins	DP
Fr.	8	NIACC	Laken Lienhard	UTL

*At-Large Selections

Second Team All-Region

Year	#	School	Name	Pos.
Fr.	7	NIACC	Hailey Worman	C
Fr.	30	Northeast	Brianna Aguilera	C
Fr.	16	DMACC	Lexi Lander	P
Fr.	17	Ellsworth	Delaney Vetter	P
Fr.	17	Kirkwood	Payton Akers	P
Fr.	2	DMACC	Sami Miller	INF
So.	15	Iowa Central	Mackenzie Rosenboom	INF
So.	1	Iowa Central	Abby Wilson	INF
Fr.	3	Kirkwood	Emilee Linder	INF
Fr.	4	Kirkwood	Austyn Crees	INF
Fr.	18	DMACC	Haley Forret	OF
Fr.	11	DMACC	Zoey Wright	OF
Fr.	1	Ellsworth	Kaysee Dale	OF
So.	7	Iowa Central	Abbie Thilges	OF
Fr.	6	Kirkwood	Angie Gorkow	DP
Fr.	22	Ellsworth	Chelsea Buck	UTL

Honorable Mention All-Region

Year	#	School	Name	Pos.
So.	14	Kirkwood	Jessie Frasher	C
Fr.	25	NIACC	Macy Alexander	C
Fr.	17	DMACC	Ellie Jacobson	P
Fr.	19	Iowa Central	Madison Huisman	P
Fr.	20	NIACC	Kayla Sproul	P
C-Fr.	6	Ellsworth	Chloe Roberts	INF
So.	20	Iowa Central	Rachel Newell	INF
C-Fr.	23	Iowa Lakes	Kailey Maksim	INF
C-Fr.	10	Iowa Lakes	Kamryn Buntrock	INF
Fr.	13	Kirkwood	Reagan Schutte	INF
So.	1	Kirkwood	Alli Ferrari	INF
Fr.	11	NIACC	Anna Lensing	INF
Fr.	14	NIACC	Kayla Noelker	INF
Fr.	2	NIACC	Riley Nelson	INF
So.	5	Northeast	Alyssa Turner	INF
C-So.	15	Ellsworth	Gwen Hovorka	OF
So.	17	Iowa Central	Allyson Stewart	OF
Fr.	9	Kirkwood	Brooke Kilburg	OF
Fr.	17	NIACC	Kennadi Colbert	OF
Fr.	11	Northeast	Taylor Nicolay	OF
So.	12	Northeast	Chantel Julian	OF
Fr.	28	Iowa Central	Laila Pelds	DP
Fr.	20	Northeast	Greta Lindberg	DP
Fr.	10	Iowa Central	Mikhaela Muir	UTL