Mears, Christner and Johnson make all-GTNS softball team

By AARON VINER

Golden Triangle News Service

Southeast Iowa had some of the best softball in the state in 2015.

With Fairfield, New London and Mt. Pleasant each punching their tickets for a coveted trip to Fort Dodge this season, and teams such as Highland and Mid-Prairie enjoying a high spot in the rankings for much of the season, much of that talent came from the Golden Triangle coverage area.

With so many talented players to pick from, it was a long deliberation before the All-GTNS softball team was set, and a second-year head coach sits at the helm.

Troy Mears of Mt. Pleasant wins the honor of being the All-GTNS coach due to a spectacular postseason run. In just his second year as head coach of Mt. Pleasant, Mears led the Panthers to their first state tournament in school history.

After coming into the postseason just 17-19, Mears? Panthers defeated Ft. Madison, No. 11 Keokuk and No. 8 Davenport Assumption to advance to the 4A state tournament. After a loss against Winterset in the first round, Mt. Pleasant knocked off a third ranked team, No. 10 Waverly-Shell Rock in the consolation round en route to a sixth-place finish.

Leading the players on the field, the captain was a familiar face in the All-GTNS circle, as New London?s Morgan Christner made her third appearance on the team, and second-straight as captain.

Christner pitched all but five innings this season for New London including all 21 innings in the 1A state tournament, where the team finished third.

Christner earned her captain spot both in the circle and at the plate. The junior led the state in strikeouts with 405 and finished the season with a 0.95 ERA. She held her opponents to a batting average of .131, walked just 43 batters and only hit one. She led her team offensively with a .523 average, .927 slugging percentage, seven homeruns and 46 RBIs.

In the infield, Mid-Prairie junior slugger Amber Kral makes her second-straight All-GTNS appearance after finishing third in the state (regardless of class) in RBIs with 71.

The two girls that finished above her (with 75 and 73 RBIs each) both played 10 more games than Kral.

The junior Golden Hawk didn?t stop her dominance there, as she batted .455 with an on-base percentage of .528, and scored 38 runs while swatting 12 home runs en route to first-team All State honors.

Joining Kral in the infield is Mt. Pleasant?s Bailey Johnson, who helped lead a balanced Panther team, including a strong postseason performance to help her earn the slot.

Johnson led the Southeastern Conference this year in RBIs (40) and slugging percentage (.425). Though she was batting seventh in the stacked lineup, Johnson seemed to be the one to get most of the big hits with runners on base. At the 4A state tournament, Johnson turned it on even more, batting .571 and leading the tournament with a 1.000 slugging percentage.

Southeast Conference rival Fairfield, who took fifth place at the state tournament, had its first name slotted into the All-GTNS infield, with third baseman Mackenzie McClure earning the nod.

The SEC MVP third baseman for Fairfield, McClure, hit .364 with three homers and 31 RBIs. The senior?s best game of the season came against Ft. Madison on June 8, where she collected two hits, a homer, and four RBIs to lead Fairfield to a 17-4 victory in a conference matchup.

Rounding out the All-GTNS infield is Van Buren?s lone representative on the team, Taylor Murguia.

Murguia led the Warriors with 26 RBIs and slugged .721 on the year. She batted .426, hit five homers, and 10 of her 29 hits went for extra bases. The junior was also the team?s most reliable pitcher, starting 17 games and winning 8 of them, striking out 98 hitters in 91 innings pitched.

In the outfield, Highland places it?s first representative on the All-GTNS team with sophomore speedster Kelsey Hora taking a spot.

The Class 2A, first-team All State centerfielder was tremendous for the Huskies, batting .505 on the season with an on-base percentage of .557, both team highs.

She also led the team with 43 runs scored and stole 48 bases in 50 attempts for the Huskies.

Fairfield?s next representative comes in the outfield, with Brynna Bowman earning the nod for the Trojans.

Bowman was a part of the Trojans? 2-3 punch with McClure. The sophomore right-fielder was responsible at the plate for Fairfield?s walk-off against North Scott this year, driving in Jolea Burkhart to win the regional tournament and qualify for state.

Bowman batted .434 to lead the Trojans, including a homer against Columbus Junction that literally knocked a fan out of their chair. She also drove in 23 RBIs and scored 40 runs for Fairfield.

Taking the final spot in the outfield was Cardinal?s first All-GTNS representative, Alexis Adam.

Adam?s stats on the year show her importance to her team, as the senior batted .359 with nine homers and 18 RBIs. She stole 36 bags out of the leadoff spot and scored 44 runs on the year.

Earning the nod as the All-GTNS catcher was Sloan Reighard out of Pekin.

The converted infielder moved into the catcher?s slot for the Panthers this season and thrived there, batting .412 with two homers and 17 RBIs. Half of the junior?s hits on the season went for extra bases and her on-base plus slugging was a whopping 1.158. Reighard homered in the final two games of the year, driving in five RBIs against Danville on July 7 and smacking a solo homerun against Eddyvile-Blakesburg in the final game of the season.

In the circle, the two All-GTNS pitchers would be any coach?s dream, with Fairfield?s Alli Deao and Highland?s Katie Springer each earning the nod.

Deao, a junior, went 15-8 on the year as Fairfield?s ace, striking out 92 batters and walking only 14 in 149 innings pitched. Some arm fatigue hit Deao in the middle of the year, but she stormed back with some dominating performances in the postseason.

She shut down the Indians in Oskaloosa July 11, on their home field, allowing only one run in a complete game effort, and followed that up with a two-hitter over North Scott to put Fairfield into the state tournament.

Springer was the main pitcher for the Huskies this season, as she earned second-team All State honors for Class 2A.

The Highland senior tossed 155 innings this season, posting an ERA of 1.13 and struck out 165 batters on the year. Her WHIP stayed incredibly low on the season, finishing at 0.77.

The competition was fierce for the final utility spots, but a few key stats helped the selections earn their nomination.

Washington had its lone representative take her spot on the All-GTNS team, with freshman Morgan Brinning earning the nod.

The first-team All-Conference freshman led the Demons in most batting categories this season, including batting average (.412), on-base percentage (.467), runs (22), doubles (11), stolen bases (7) and hits (40), while tying for the team lead in RBIs with 16.

Fairfield had its fourth selection join the team with Ashtyn Drish taking a spot on the squad.

The freshman primarily played designated hitter and batted .385 with seven homers and 33 RBIs and slugged .600.

Her versatility at the plate was astounding as well, as head coach Bob Bradfield moved her from bopping in RBIs in the middle of the lineup to run generating from the leadoff spot. Drish didn?t homer again after the switch, but started many early game rallies to put Fairfield on top early.

Last, but most certainly not least on the All-GTNS team is Mid-Prairie junior Alex Rath, who batted her way onto this year?s squad.

The Golden Hawk batted .540 with an on-base percentage of .620 to help lead the offensive minded Mid-Prairie squad, earning first-team All-State selection along the way.

Rath, the leadoff hitter for Mid-Prairie, led the Hawks with 50 runs scored and was effective getting on base with 61 hits and 21 walks, while driving in 22 RBIs. Once on base, Rath was almost automatically at second base, going a perfect 20-for-20 in stolen base attempts.

The All-GTNS softball team was selected by Josh Dillon of the Fairfield Ledger, Aaron Viner of The Washington Evening Journal and Andy Krutsinger of the Mt. Pleasant News.