GMG pitcher Adelyn Sienknecht delivers to the plate during the first inning of the Wolverines’ Iowa Star Conference softball game against Dunkerton on June 13, 2022, in Green Mountain. Sienknecht struck out three in a four-hitter to help GMG defeat the Raiders 13-1 in four innings. TAMA-GRUNDY PUBLISHING FILE PHOTO

North Tama head softball coach Madonna Madorin was announced as the Iowa Star Conference South Co-Coach of the Year in the league’s all-division teams released recently.

Madorin shares the honor with Colo-NESCO’s Candace Sutton. The Redhawks finished the season 7-12, their best finish since 2018.

Five area softball players landed on the first team — GMG’s Blake Mathern and Adelyn Sienknecht, BCLUW’s Raegan Crawford and Morgan Bergman and North Tama’s Gabriella Seda.

Sienknecht is the area’s only repeat first-teamer, earning a utility spot. In her junior season in the circle, Sienknecht had a 3.19 ERA with 61 earned runs allowed in 134 innings with 96 strikeouts compared to 24 walks. She tied for the team lead with 16 runs batted in, hitting .276 with five doubles, a triple and a home run.

Mathern, an eighth-grader selected at infielder, led the Wolverines with a .337 batting average and 24 runs scored, adding six RBIs while stealing 22 bases.

Crawford was the top hitter for BCLUW this summer, hitting .391 with 10 doubles, two triples, a home run and 20 runs batted in. The sophomore selected to the first-team infield also stole a team-leading 17 bases.

Bergman had a .354 average at the plate for the Comets, hitting eight doubles, two home runs and 13 runs batted in to earn a first-team utility spot.

Seda was picked as a first-team outfielder as a freshman for the Redhawks. She led the way at the plate with a .429 average, including three doubles, four triples and 15 runs batted in with 10 stolen bases and 21 runs scored.

BCLUW had four second-team nods; pitcher Klayre Gallentine, catcher Cassie Nason, infielder Cameron Bergman and outfielder Grace Farnsworth. North Tama infielder Lydia Taylor and GMG outfielder Abby Parks also earned slots on the second-team.

Gallentine struck out 131 batters in 168 innings in the circle as the Comets’ main pitcher this summer. Nason led the conference in thrown out base-stealers with 10 on 40 attempts and hit .320 at the plate with five doubles, a triple, and a home run. Cameron Bergman, the only senior for the Comets, knocked in 13 runs with a double and a homer and led the team with a .981 fielding percentage. Farnsworth had a Comet-best 21 RBI this season with five doubles.

Taylor hit .317 with five doubles and two homers in her junior season with the Redhawks.

Parks batted .295 for GMG with nine runs batted in and 19 runs scored.

Honorable mention went to BCLUW’s Maliah Gunderson, Maecyn Lewis of GMG and Sydnee Bliss of North Tama.

Collins-Maxwell junior Erica Houge won South Player of the Year honors.

All-Iowa Star Conference South Division Softball Teams

FIRST TEAM

Erica Houge, jr., P, Collins-Max.

Marissa Boege, sr., C, Collins-Max.

Jayden Peters, 8th, INF, Collins-Max.

Callie Kohlwes, sr., INF, Colo-NESCO

Blake Mathern, 8th, INF, GMG

Raegan Crawford, so., INF, BCLUW

Mandee Selover, sr., INF, Baxter

Cypress Erickson, fr., OF, Collins-Max.

Molly Angell, so., OF, Colo-NESCO

Gabriella Seda, fr., OF, North Tama

Abigail Hostetler, sr., UT, Colo-NESCO

Adelyn Sienknecht, jr., UT, GMG

Morgan Bergman, so., UT, BCLUW

SECOND TEAM

Klayre Gallentine, so., P, BCLUW

Cassie Nason, so., C, BCLUW

Emma Pasquariello, jr., INF, Collins-Max.

Rylee Upchurch, jr., INF, Colo-NESCO

Cameron Bergman, sr., INF, BCLUW

Lydia Taylor, jr., INF, North Tama

Hannah Kimberley, jr., OF, Collins-Max.

Abby Parks, jr., OF, GMG

Grace Farnsworth, fr., OF, BCLUW

HONORABLE MENTION

Lydia Pierce, jr, Baxter

Maliah Gunderson, jr., BCLUW

Mary Staudt, sr., Collins-Maxwell

Annabelle Nessa, jr., Colo-NESCO

Maecyn Lewis, jr., GMG

Sydnee Bliss, 8th, North Tama

Final Conference Standings

Collins-Maxwell 14-1

Colo-NESCO 8-7

GMG 7-8

BCLUW 7-8

North Tama 5-10

Baxter 1-14