MAC Announces Softball Regular Season Awards
Championship Central
2017 Softball Bracket
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced Tuesday afternoon, on the eve of the 2017 MAC Softball Tournament opening round, the regular season award winners for the 2017 season. Along with the All-MAC First and Second teams, the conference office also announced the All-Freshman team and individual awards which included Player, Pitcher, Freshman and Coach of the Year and the Nan Harvey award, as voted on by the 12 head coaches of the MAC.
For Central Michigan, they saw two individual awards come the Chippewas way. Senior pitcher Rachael Knapp and head coach Margo Jonker were named the 2017 MAC Pitcher of the Year and MAC Coach of the Year respectfully. Knapp went 11-4 during conference play and led the MAC in innings pitched (109.1 in 16 games) and complete games (15). She had 112 strikeouts over MAC opponents and named MAC West Pitcher of the Week seven times this season.
For Jonker, the honor comes after leading the Chippewas to a 36-13 overall record and going 18-5 in the MAC to capture the outright MAC regular season title. This was her ninth time honored with this award in the 38 seasons she has coached at CMU.
Kent State’s Maddy Grimm was named MAC Player of the Year. The senior led the MAC in home runs (10), walks (31), on base percentage (.581), slugging percentage (.906) and tied for runs batted in (24). Grimm is the first Golden Flash to be honored with this award since Jessica Toocheck in 2008. The Stahlstown, Pa. native is currently tied for ninth in the country in home runs this season and ranks 21 in RBI. Grimm’s also second in the MAC for career home runs (68).
The 2017 MAC Freshman of the Year honor went to Akron’s Lexie Handley. The lefty pitcher went 9-8 during conference play with a 1.77 ERA and two shutouts. She made 19 appearances with 16 starts, pitched a MAC-best 106.2 innings and struck out 75 batters. Handley threw her first career no-hitter in the 9-0 win at Central Michigan and earned MAC East Pitcher of the Week honors three times.
Both KSU’s Grimm and Northern Illinois Kayti Grable were honored with the Nan Harvey Award.
The epitome of a Kent State Softball student-athlete, the respect that Grimm has earned from the athletics department was evident last weekend when she was named the recipient of the Janet Bachna Award winner, which is presented to the Kent State senior female student-athlete who displays athletic, academic and leadership excellence.
During her four years as a Golden Flash, Maddy has led on the field, in the classroom and in the community. Her work ethic is mirrored by her teammates. Her tenacity and heart are indicative of her championship approach, as she demonstrates what it means to be a DI softball player every day at practice and in the weight room. She is part of a senior class that has won 130 games and two MAC regular season titles.
Grable has had opportunity to rewrite Northern Illinois’ softball record this season. She has already been named All-MAC First Team and NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete all three years, but is also in the top five of many career softball records. All her success at NIU has come through injury. She has had two surgeries that have sat her out three Fall seasons and yet she still has had the success that many have only dreamed of.
Kayti has completed 100 hours of community service throughout her career including Camp Power, Corland Community Fair, Canned Food Collections, Kish Cancer Center Patient Celebration, Cramer Middle School Mentoring, Feed My Starving Children, Sycamore Girls Softball Clinic and many more.
The All-MAC First Team was made up of Akron’s Ashley Sims, Ball State’s Maddy Labrador, Central Michigan’s Allison Curtis, Maison Kalina and Pitcher of the Year Knapp. Three Golden Flashes, Bailey Brownfield, Ronnie Ladines and Player of the Year Grimm claimed first team honors as well as Miami’s Kat Lee, Northern Illinois' Kayti Grable and Bekah Harnish. The Bobcats also added three with Mikayla Cooper, Savannah Jo Dorsey and Morgan Geno and Toledo’s Chandler Rice.
The All-MAC Second team was made up of Pitcher of the Year Handley, Buffalo’s Ally Power, CMU’s Rachel Vieira and Hannah Warren, Eastern Michigan’s Michelle Kriegshauser, Kent State’s Emily Dobbin and Miami’s Megan Wurts. Kali Kossakowski and Jenny Van Geertry represented the Huskies while Ohio’s Madison Claytor, Alex Day and Danielle Stiene and Western Michigan’s Mackenzie Swinehart, Aspen Williams and Marlee Wilson each had three.
Closing-out the regular season awards was the naming of the 2017 All-Freshman Team recognizing the best of the up-and-coming following their first season. Along with the Freshman of the Year Handley, the team included Ball State’s Haley Dominique, Darcie Huber and Kennedy Wynn, Bowling Green’s Kendyl Wheeler, Buffalo’s Jessica Goldyn and Jenelle Martinez, Miami’s Haeley, Ohio’s Alexa Holland and Western Michigan’s Mackenzie Swinehart.
The 2017 MAC Softball Championship begins Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at Akron’s Firestone Stadium. Check out the MAC Softball Championship Central
HERE.
Player of the Year: Maddy Grimm, Kent State, Senior
Pitcher of the Year: Rachael Knapp, Central Michigan, Senior
Freshman of the Year: Lexie Handley, Akron
Coach of the Year: Margo Jonker, Central Michigan
Nan Harvey Award: Kayti Grable, Northern Illinois & Maddy Grimm, Kent State
All-MAC First Team
Bekah Harnish, Northern Illinois, C
Kayti Grable, Northern Illinois, 1B
Maddy Labrador, Ball State, 2B
Chandler Rice, Toledo, 2B
Maddy Grimm, Kent State, 3B
Kat Lee, Miami, 3B
Mikayla Cooper, Ohio, SS
Ashley Sims, Akron, OF
Allison Curtis, Central Michigan, OF
Bailey Brownfield, Kent State, OF
Rachael Knapp, Central Michigan, P
Savannah Jo Dorsey, Ohio, P
Maison Kalina, Central Michigan, UT
Morgan Geno, Ohio, UT
Ronnie Ladines, Kent State, UT/P
All-MAC Second Team
Madison Claytor, Ohio, C
Marlee Wilson, Western Michigan, 1B
Rachel Vieira, Central Michigan, 2B
Alex Day, Ohio, 3B
Kali Kossakowski, Northern Illinois, SS
Michelle Kriegshauser, Eastern Michigan, OF
Emily Dobbin, Kent State, OF
Jenny Van Geertry, Northern Illinois, OF
Mackenzie Swinehart, Western Michigan, OF
Aspen Williams, Western Michigan, OF
Megan Wurts, Miami, UT
Lexie Handley, Akron, P
Hanna Warren, Central Michigan, P
Danielle Stiene, Ohio, P
Ally Power, UB, UT/P
All-Freshman Team
Lexie Handley, Akron
Haley Dominique, Ball State
Darcie Huber, Ball State
Kennedy Wynn, Ball State
Kendyl Wheeler, Bowling Green
Jessica Goldyn, Buffalo
Jenelle Martinez, Buffalo
Haeley Tran, Miami
Alexa Holland, Ohio
Mackenzie Swinehart, Western Michigan
