Seven area players named all-state

Class 4A third-place Creston and Class 1A regional finalist Murray accounted for five of the seven area players selected on one of the all-state softball teams announced by the Iowa Girls Coaches Association.

Creston senior pitching and hitting star Haylee LaMasters was named to the Class 4A first all-state team, moving up from second team a year ago and third team as a sophomore.

Her battery-mate, senior catcher Natalie Mostek, earned her first all-state recognition as a second-team selection in 4A.

In Class 1A, Murray’s 27-5 team that fell to Lynnville-Sully in the regional finals had six girls recognized in all. Senior third baseman Deena Snyder and eighth-grade pitcher-outfielder Breianna Klein were named to the second team. Senior catcher McKenzie Case, who missed the final eight games with a broken leg, earned third-team honors.

Because of the number of teams involved, Classes 1A and 2A also have honorable mention lists, and earning honorable mention from the Bluegrass Conference champion Lady Mustangs are senior outfielder Chellsea Jones, junior first baseman Madison Gonseth and sophomore second baseman Brandi Gilbert.

Also named all-state from the area is pitcher Paige McElfish of Nodaway Valley, on the second team in Class 2A; and Lenox catcher Aurora Arevalo, on the Class 1A third team.

Dual threat

LaMasters ended her Creston career as perhaps the school’s best combo threat as both a pitcher and hitter.

She followed the career of University of South Dakota pitcher Madison Frain, who was also a prominent hitter in the Panther lineup. LaMasters ends up in the school records in a bevy of categories offensively, and her 506 career strikeouts as a pitcher (59-30 and 2.65 ERA) also ranks among the leaders.

She has all-time bests in season average (.536), career average (.436), season RBI (61), career RBI (188), season home runs (10), career home runs (22), season doubles (20 - tied with Amanda Parker), career doubles (63) and career triples (15). Coach Mike McCabe said he is still checking into her ranking in season hits (59) and career hits (239).

As a pitcher this year LaMasters was 20-5 (including two wins at the state tournament) with a 1.31 ERA. She threw 149 1/3 innings, struck out 157 batters, walked only 25 and held opponents to a .203 batting average.

“Haylee has always been a pretty good hitter, even back to her eighth-grade year when she played left field and freshman year when she played first base for us,” McCabe said. “But her improvement pitching-wise is as important as anything to me. Her number of walks went from 109 her sophomore year to 57 as a junior and only 25 this year in 35 games. She really learned how to locate her pitches.”

Mostek, the leader of the Panther defense from her backstop position, was second on the team in RBI with 28 while batting .424 this year. She also had 10 doubles and one home run. In the field, she had only three errors all season.

“Natalie really had a solid senior year for us,” McCabe said. “She played well for us down the stretch. Defensively, there was a level of comfort there for Haylee with Natalie back there. She evolved into a leadership role for us, someone the young kids would listen to.”

They will become opponents next year in the ICCAC, as LaMasters plays at Southwestern Community College and Mostek plays for DMACC.

Murray standouts

Second-team standouts Snyder and Klein were two of the primary forces behind Murray’s 27-5 season and the school’s fourth appearance in a regional final game.

Klein had a team-high .444 batting average with a home run and 20 RBI. Splitting pitching duties with another eighth-grader, Kayla Wookey, Klein was 16-2 with a 1.83 ERA. In 103 inning she struck out 136, walked 44 and allowed 67 hits with an opponent average of .153.

Snyder, the team’s third baseman since midway through her eighth-grade year, hit .351 with eight doubles and 18 RBI.

“Deena is on second team for the second straight year after setting our school record of .488 last year,” Murray coach Danny Jensen said, “an this year she really picked up her defense with only seven errors.”

Case, the team’s senior catcher, missed the tournament run with her broken leg, but had become an important defensive and offensive member of the team prior to the injury in earning third-team honors.

“She only had one error all season and just four passed balls,” Jensen said. “She was able to handle our young pitchers very well. Along with that she hit .320 with 17 RBI at the lower end of the order.”

Among the honorable mention players, the four-year starter Jones hit .330 with 21 RBI while making some spectacular catches in the outfield. She was the conference RBI leader two years ago. Gonseth hit .282 with three home runs and eight doubles and 28 RBI. Gilbert batted .409 with a team-high 30 runs scored and six home runs, along with 22 RBI.

Jones, Snyder and Case conclude varsity careers with a 104-53 record.

Wolverine star

Like Creston’s LaMasters, McElfish was a dual force for Nodaway Valley as a sophomore. At the plate she hit nine home runs and drove in 31 runs while hitting .344. She pitched 186 1/3 innings with 155 hits allowed, 203 strikeouts and 82 walks while finishing 13-14. Opponents were held to a .194 batting average.

Arevalo, the veteran Lenox catcher, led the 16-12 Tigers with a .464 average and 24 RBI. She hit two home runs and 12 doubles. Defensively she caught nine of 14 base stealers.

Named all-state from Clarke’s Class 3A sixth-place team were shortstop Vanessa Bakley on the first team, catcher Kassidy Spurgin on the second team and third baseman Sara Andrew on the third team. Also named in 3A was Hallie Linhart of Central Decatur on the second team.

Interstate 35’s state-qualifying team in Class 2A is represented by sophomore pitcher Carlyn Stanley on the first team and eighth-grade second baseman Kate Stanley on the second unit.