EAST PEORIA, Ill. – The Great Lakes Valley Conference announced Thursday night that Truman State University sophomore Christa Reisinger was selected as the Player of the Year in the sport of softball. Additionally, Rockhurst University senior pitcher Bridgette Sappington was chosen as GLVC Pitcher of the Year and University of Southern Indiana’s Jennifer Leonhardt was named GLVC Freshman of the Year. Screaming Eagles head coach Sue Kunkle was also voted by her peers as GLVC Coach of the Year. These four individuals were recognized for their efforts at an awards reception on the eve of the 2017 GLVC Softball Championship Tournament, which begins Thursday, May 4 in East Peoria, Illinois. A total of 39 student-athletes were also recognized as All-Conference honorees and 16 student-athletes were nominated for the James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award.
Last year, Reisinger was the first Bulldog selected as GLVC Freshman of the Year and now becomes the first in program history to earn the league’s highest accolade. In addition, she is just the third player in GLVC history to accomplish the feat of winning the newcomer and player of the year honor in back-to-back seasons. Krystal Lewallen of former league member Northern Kentucky did it in 2003 and 2004, while Indianapolis’ Casey Williamson was the 2012 and 2013 honoree. In her sophomore campaign, the center fielder is leading the Conference in 10 statistical categories, including batting average (.511), on-base percentage (.577), runs scored (66), hits (93), total bases (125), walks (28), total plate appearances (217), hits per game (1.70), runs scored per game (1.22) and plate appearances per game (4.02). Many of those clips rank among the five best in NCAA Division II, as the sophomore is second in hits, third with her batting average mark and fourth in on-base percentage. At the beginning of the season, Reisinger was named to the Schutt Sports/NFCA DII Player of the Year watch list, was the GLVC Player of the Week on April 10 and recently named a top-25 finalist for the Schutt Sports/NFCA DII Player of the Year accolade. With all of that, she finishes the regular season by picking up her second All-GLVC first-team laurel in a row, but this time, as a unanimous choice.
Sappington becomes Rockhurst’s first GLVC major postseason award winner with her Pitcher of the Year distinction. She was also named a unanimous selection on the All-GLVC First Team thanks to her efforts in the circle in 2017, her third year on the postseason team. The senior’s earned run average of 1.03 leads the league, as does her opposing team batting average of .191 through 162.1 innings pitched. Sappington has also given up the fewest hits per game (4.87), runs per game (1.60) and earned runs per game, while her 0.39 doubles per game allowance is second best in the loop and the 20 wins she accrued in her senior campaign is the third most by a GLVC hurler. Nationally among DII pitchers, her ERA is ninth best. Earlier in the year, the righty earned back-to-back GLVC Pitcher of the Week honors March 27 and April 3, which included three complete-game shutout wins to start and finished with her throwing the first perfect game in school history.
Leonhardt is the third Screaming Eagle named GLVC Freshman of the Year, as Trisha Poling was the league’s first-ever selection in 1997 and Rachel Bowling shared the award in 2000. The newcomer has made big waves at USI and in the Conference, winning a league-best 23 games and ranking 13th in the nation with that number. The other category in which she leads the way is strikeouts looking with 48, six more than the next highest league pitcher’s mark. Her .200 opposing batting average is second best in the loop, her 1.44 ERA is third lowest, while she has struck out the fourth-most batters (149) overall. The right-hander has also been to bat 45 times and carries a .289 average with 13 hits, seven runs, 19 total bases, eight runs batted in, three doubles and a homer. In addition to that, she slugged for .422 and tallied a .313 on-base percentage. Moreover, she was chosen as the GLVC Pitcher of the Week three times (2/20, 3/20, 4/10). That all earned her a unanimous nod to the All-GLVC First Team.
This is Kunkle’s second honor as GLVC Coach of the Year, as she was also voted as such for the first time in 2006. The 16-year mentor guided USI to eight consecutive wins to start the season and another 10-game win streak in early March that eventually led her squad to its highest ever NFCA DII Top 25 national ranking of No. 5, while they are also No. 1 in the Midwest Region. With Kunkle at the helm, the Eagles earned a share of its first regular season title in her tenure, as they also secured the top seed entering this week’s GLVC Championship Tournament and will be looking for their first title since 1998.
Reisinger is joined on the All-GLVC First Team by her senior and sophomore teammates Lex Van Nostrand (catcher) and Alyssa Rivera (third base), respectively, while University of Missouri-St. Louis was the only other team with multiple first-team nods. Sophomore pitcher Carley Kingery – a unanimous pick – sophomore second baseman Reagan Osborn and four-time All-GLVC pick senior shortstop Alex Stupek were the three Tritons on the First Team. The other league standout unanimously voted to the First Team was USI’s freshman pitching ace Jennifer Leonhardt. The other five players rounding out the team include Lewis University junior outfielder Kaylee Prieto, Maryville University senior designated player Nikki Taylor, McKendree University senior first baseman Rachel Hastings, University of Wisconsin-Parkside utility player Carly Dundee, and William Jewell College junior outfielder Madi Giles.
The league also recognized 16 GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award honorees. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These individuals must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees are now eligible to become one of their school’s two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced in May.
Each of the three All-GLVC teams is made up of 13 players, including four infielders by position (3B, SS, 2B, 1B), three outfielders, one catcher, one designated player, three pitchers and one utility player.
A complete list of All-GLVC performers and major postseason award winners can be found below.
2017 GLVC PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Christa Reisinger, So., OF, Truman State
2017 GLVC PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Bridgette Sappington, Sr., Rockhurst
2017 GLVC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Jennier Leonhardt, P, Southern Indiana
2017 GLVC COACH OF THE YEAR: Sue Kunkle, Southern Indiana
2017 SOFTBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
FIRST TEAM
Kaylee Prieto, Jr., OF, LEWIS
Nikki Taylor, Sr., DP, MU
Rachel Hastings, Sr., 1B, MCK
Carly Kingery, So., P, UMSL#
Reagan Osborn, So., 2B, UMSL
Alex Stupek, Sr., SS, UMSL
Bridgette Sappington, Sr., P, RU#
Jennifer Leonhardt, Fr., P, USI#
Lex Van Nostrand, Sr., C, TSU
Christa Reisinger, So., OF, TSU#
Alyssa Rivera, Fr., 3B, TSU
Carly Dundee, Sr., UT, UWP
Madi Giles, Jr., OF, WJC |
SECOND TEAM
Rachel Fox, Sr., OF, BU
Jaycee Craver, So., P, UIS
Amanda Gosbeth, Sr., UT, UIS
Dara Sanders, So., P, LEWIS
Jamie Doggendorf, Sr., OF, MCK
Monica Weiss, Jr., 3B, S&T
Lindsey Greene, Sr., 1B, QU
Kaylee Jones, Sr., 2B, QU
Lauren Cairo, Sr., OF, RU
Briana Wagner, Sr., SS, SJC
Haley Hodges, Sr., C, USI
Lauren Dale, So., P, TSU
Morgan McMahan, So., DP, TSU |
THIRD TEAM
Sabrina Fussenegger, Fr., P, BU
Katie Wooldridge, Jr., 3B, UIS
Natalie Lalich, Sr., DP, UINDY
Katie Kelly, Sr., 2B, UINDY
Carly Jaworski, Sr., SS, LEWIS
Courtney Ferguson, Jr., UT, MU
Kelsey Martin, Jr., OF, MU
Avery English, Fr., P, S&T
Serena Olson, So., C, UMSL
Madison Wagner, Jr., OF, RU
Marleah Fossett, Jr., 1B, USI
Olivia Clark-Kittleson, Jr., OF, USI
Anna Biondo, So., P, WJC |
# Unanimous Selection |
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2017 JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD NOMINEES
Sabrina Fussenegger, BU
Kaelie Smith, DU
Amanda Gosbeth, UIS
Jessie Noone, UINDY
Carley Maupin, LEWIS
Sheridon Sprague, MU
Jamie Doggendorf, MCK
Lori Badalamenti, S&T
Sara Kern, UMSL
Sammi Goble, QU
Lauren Cairo, RU
Zoee Anderson, SJC
Grace Clark, USI
Sydney Scherzinger, TSU
Carly Dundee, UWP
Kelsey Morgan, WJC