Softball 1/11/2020 12:00:00 PM Chad Jenkins - Sports Information Director

MNU All-Decade Team: Softball

All-Decade: Volleyball, Women's Soccer, Football, Men's Soccer, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball, Baseball

The 2010s were a great decade for MNU Athletics. Every program qualified for the national tournament at least twice, Cross Country and Track & Field made their returns and had great success, 2 teams played for the National Championship, and Women's Basketball won it all in 2016. With all the great athletes to come through Olathe in the last 10 years, it's difficult to nail down All-Decade teams. But I'm going to give it a shot. Your Sports Information Director, Chad Jenkins, along with a handful of coaches and fans, will publish an All-Decade team for our team sports starting with the Spring of 2010.

The Process
There's no one way to do this, but here's how I'm going to do it:
- One player from a specific season will represent one starting position on the court/field. One great season by one player usually trumps a solid career from another.
- Academics, behavior, and likability are not going to be considered. I can't know enough about the personal lives of these athletes to make that judgment. I'm putting together the best players at each position, period.
- I've asked for input from some coaches and fans, but ultimately the final decision is mine. So direct your hateful e-mails to yours truly.
- For Softball, we are using 11 positions: 2 Pitchers, 1 Catcher, 1 First Baseman, 1 Second Baseman, 1 Third Baseman, 1 Shortstop, 3 Outfielders, and a DP.

Why Are We Doing This?
Because it's fun. If you or your relative or buddy didn't make the squad, it's not personal.

Who Are You to Make These Decisions?
A fair question. I'm the guy who has watched pretty much every home event in every sport since the Fall of 2007, and I'm in control of the athletics website. I also coached (assistant) exactly 3 softball games this decade in the conference tournament in 2016. Had a discussion with the umpires and everything (I was right, but still lost the argument).

Enough! Just Get Started!
Agreed. Here we go...(I mention OPS quite a bit in this article. It stands for On-Base Plus Slugging, and for my money it's the best single stat for measuring offensive impact. Generally, an OPS of 1.000 is MVP level. Its only flaw is that it doesn't factor in stolen bases.)

Pitchers
MNU had several pitchers earn All-Conference honors throughout the decade. Jessica Hull's heavy sinker helped MNU reach Nationals in 2011, Taylor Pearcy led the 2013 squad to Nationals, Megan Schwindler won 20 games with a sub-2 ERA in 2014, Megan Deiter had over 150 strikeouts in 108 innings in 2016, and Emily Robinson won 35 games over 2017 & 2018 for two 2nd-team nods. But 2 pitchers dominated in the circle like no others early in the decade, and the MNU Softball All-Decade Pitchers are Penny Eastman in 2010, and Jen Costa in 2010 & 2011.
- One of the first times I kept live stats for MNU Softball, I saw a pitching performance I'll probably never see again. Penny Eastman faced Southwestern College (Kan.) and hardly allowed contact. The first batter popped out, the last batter grounded out, and no one put the ball in play for the 19 batters in between. A perfect game with 19 consecutive strikeouts was my first taste, and Eastman continued to dominate throughout the season. She went 19-4 with a 0.98 ERA, a .131 opponent batting average, and 278 strikeouts in 164.2 innings as MNU reached Nationals for the first time. She was named Conference Pitcher of the Week 3 times, 1st team All-Conference, and Conference Pitcher of the Year. Her signature game wasn't even the perfecto with 19 Ks. With the season on the line in the conference tournament, Eastman was tabbed to start the elimination game. The format in 2010 featured a 3-game series at a host site for each round (a double header the first day, then an if-necessary game the next day), and MNU lost Game 1 to Evangel. Game 2 started at 6pm and the Crusaders took a 2-0 lead in the 3rd. MNU tied it in the top of the 7th (the "visitor" in Game 2), and the game continued deep into the night. Eastman went the distance: 263 pitches and an NAIA-record 22 strikeouts over 17 innings, and the Pioneers finally broke through to force Game 3. Her devastating rise ball and workhorse attitude puts the MNU Hall of Famer easily at the top of the pitching staff on the All-Decade Team.

[this is gonna be a long paragraph...for my favorite athlete I've covered so far]

- Putting Hall of Famer Jen Costa as a pitcher on the All-Decade Team works just fine, as her numbers in the circle are irrefutable, but you could really put her anywhere. In 2 seasons with MNU, she pitched pretty much every other game, and played Gold Glove defense at third, short, and second in the other games. I even saw the coach occasionally move her around the infield between batters to give her a better chance to be in the way of the ball. Taking her bat out of the lineup was unthinkable, but adding her as a position player for this team takes a spot away from someone who played defense full time. So the Babe Ruth of MNU Softball makes the All-Decade team as a pitcher. She transferred in from San Joaquin Delta College, and in 2010, she was named Conference Pitcher of the Week 4 times, including 1 National Pitcher of the Week, Conference Player of the Week twice, 1st team All-Conference (officially as a shortstop), Conference Newcomer of the Year, and Conference Player of the Year. In the circle, she went 21-4 with a 1.56 ERA, a .157 opponent batting average, and 235 strikeouts in 152.1 innings. In 54 games at the plate, she hit .472 with 17 doubles, an MNU single-season and career record 17 homers, 56 RBIs, a .907 slugging percentage, a .534 on base percentage, and a 1.441 OPS. Her 2010 offensive season dwarfed any other in MNU history, but so did her 2011 season. In the off season I remember talking to the coach, and he mentioned re-tooling her swing. I bluntly told him he was out of his mind, but he said Costa's snub for All-America inspired her to get better. As a junior, she would routinely blast foul homers into the parking lot, and coach said a slight adjustment could eliminate that hole. Senior season comes around, and in the circle she went 16-3 with a 1.70 ERA, a .198 opponent batting average, and 152 strikeouts in 119.2 innings. But in 51 games at the plate...[inhale]...she hit .487 with 13 doubles, a nation-leading 28 (!) homers, 76 RBIs, a 1.135 slugging percentage, a .547 on base percentage, and a 1.682 OPS. Go ahead and read that again...I'll wait. That's more than half a homer per game. The foul homers from 2010 became fair homers in 2011, the left field homers went to center, the center homers went to right, and I humbly bowed. She was named Conference Player of the Week twice, 1st team All-Conference, Gold Glove (at the ambiguous INF position), Conference Player of the Year, and 1st team NAIA All-America. She was runner-up for National Player of the Year, and MNU went to Nationals for the 2nd year in a row.

Catcher
The catcher spot has been the most difficult to settle. MNU had zero catcher-specific All-Conference selections in the decade, and the position has been used primary for defense. Alexis Folkerts had a solid season with a .316 average and 3 homers in 2011 in her only year at MNU. Cait Gardner hit .307 with 2 homers in 2012 (she was named 2nd team All-Conference as a DP), Jessica Scarlett hit .333 with 3 homers in 2013, Shelby Frans was a 4-year starter and excellent defender (and a constant presence in the SID's gameday workforce. Ugh...it's a painful snub. Sorry, Shelby. If this leaned more towards the career instead of the single season, this goes differently.), Kaitlyn Leffle hit .330 with 2 homers in 2018, Emma Ryan showed great blocking skills in 2019, and Ana Tavarez narrated my 2014 promo video...

So when the defense is all solid and the offenses are similar, how does one select the MNU Softball All-Decade Catcher? I'm going with the only Conference Gold Glover of the bunch: Jessica Scarlett in 2013. Along with the highest batting average and tied for the most homers and highest OPS from the position this decade, her Gold Glove defense puts her over the top for this team.

First Base
The only All-Conference honoree at the position and MNU's first All-American easily gets the nod for the MNU Softball All-Decade 1st Baseman: Taylor Ryal in 2010. The arrival of sluggers Costa and Ryal in 2010 signaled a transition for MNU Softball. The team reached Nationals for the first time and Ryal helped rewrite the record books. In 52 games, she played Gold Glove defense and hit .409 with 17 doubles, 15 homers, 54 RBIs, an .812 slugging percentage, a .465 on base percentage, and a 1.277 OPS. She was named 1st team All-Conference and 2nd team All-America. Her love of the game was evident - poetic even - and I always admired that. This promo video was derived from her writings...

Second Base
The 2nd base spot gets a little tricky because even though I said it was more about single season performance, a few of these players got moved around the diamond in their careers. The decade started with Emily True manning the position, and she hit .320 with 5 homers on MNU's first Nationals team. Unjustly overshadowed by her thumping teammates, she was 3rd in homers that year. She had a similar season in 2011 by hitting over .300 with 5 more homers, but played a lot of right field and didn't receive any conference recognition. Kaity Wills was a 2nd team All-Conference selection in 2015, Madison Butcoff hit .386 and was an award snub in 2018, and Cassidy Berry was 2nd team All-Conference in 2019 with an OPS near 1.000 while playing a lot of second. But the MNU Softball All-Decade 2nd Baseman goes to Lynsey Keith in 2013. Ironically, Keith won the Conference Gold Glove at Shortstop in 2012 and 2014, and she played there plenty in 2013 as well, but it hopefully gets clearer in a minute. When she arrived in 2011 as a freshman, she played 2nd and had a solid season as Gold Glover Tianna George (we'll get to her later) played short. She blossomed in 2012 as a transitioning team's best player (George didn't play that season) and won the Gold Glove at short. In 2013, the team was absolutely loaded with offense and the coach had to get creative to get everyone's bat in the lineup. George was back and had an insane season, and Adriana Asano had a huge season as a second baseman where she hit .408 with 12 doubles, 4 homers, and a 1.090 OPS and was named 1st team All-Conference. Keith was also 1st team All-Conference as a 2nd baseman after hitting .427 with 7 homers, 33 RBIs, a .775 slugging percentage, a .527 on base percentage, and a 1.302 OPS. In all, MNU had a 2nd team 3rd baseman, a 1st team shortstop (George), and two first team 2nd basemen. I'm confused too. Bottom line, Keith's 2013 season is among the best in MNU history and I'm putting her at second base.

Third Base
The hot corner has been great throughout the decade, and this was a close one. Ashley Salter capped a great career with a 1st team All-Conference selection in 2011 by hitting .345 with 4 homers. Jadalynn Cirillo was one of my favorite players and earned a 2nd team nod in 2012. Vanessa Aradules was 2nd team All-Conference in 2013 and 1st team All-Conference in 2014, and Kinsey Kiser's career ('16-'19) was full of great plays at 3rd. But one player stands above the rest at 3rd, and the MNU Softball All-Decade 3rd Baseman is Macie Jones in 2016. In just 35 games, she hit .417 with 15 doubles, 3 homers, 20 RBIs, a .644 slugging percentage, a .475 on base percentage, and a 1.119 OPS while earning the Gold Glove. The previous year, as a freshman, she was 1st team All-Conference. After taking a year off as a junior, she came back as a senior and could still rake. She posted 19 doubles and 7 homers and earned 2nd team All-Conference. Her counting numbers were best as a senior in 52 games and could've gotten her on this list as well, but the deeper numbers were better in 2016 and that's where I've landed.

Shortstop
The decade started with Costa's Player of the Year honor officially coming at the shortstop position, but she's a pitcher on this team so we need to look elsewhere. Elsewhere isn't far away, and Tianna George's 2013 season is a lock for MNU Softball All-Decade Team. The University of New Mexico transfer had a great year as a junior in 2011. She was named first team All-Conference, Conference Newcomer of the Year, and earned the Gold Glove at short. She didn't play in 2012, then exploded with a ridiculous 2013. In a mere 31 games, she hit .451 with 10 doubles, 13 homers, 44 RBIs, a .989 slugging percentage, a .514 on base percentage, and a 1.503 OPS. She was 1st team All-Conference and earned another Gold Glove.

Outfielders
I wanted to go with the 3 top seasons from outfielders regardless of primary position, but we may get lucky and get left, center, and right. Here are the 1st team All-Conference options starting with 2010:
- Ashley Mayhle 2010 was a 1st team All-Conference right fielder who hit .362 with 10 doubles, 3 homers, and a .970 OPS for MNU's first Nationals team.
- Brianna Payne 2010 was a 1st team All-Conference & Gold Glove center fielder who hit .406 and stole 42 bases for MNU's first Nationals team.
- Jen Polivka 2013 was a 1st team All-Conference left fielder who hit .441 with 10 doubles, 10 homers, 50 RBIs, and a 1.289 OPS for a Nationals team.
- Hayley Gately 2015 was a 1st team All-Conference & Gold Glove right fielder who hit .364 with 14 doubles, 8 homers, 58 RBIs, and a 1.012 OPS.
- Alexis Pacheco 2016 was a 1st team All-Conference & Gold Glove right fielder who hit .409 with 9 doubles, 2 homers, and a 1.001 OPS with 25 steals.
- Hannah VanLanker 2017 was a 1st team All-Conference center fielder who hit .400 with 2 homers and 28 steals.
- KK Bayless 2019 was a 1st team All-Conference & 1st team All-America center field alien who I'm still not convinced is real.

So let's knock out 2 relatively easy ones right away: Jen Polivka in 2013 was the release of potential unlike we've ever seen. Her first 2 years at MNU as a sophomore and junior showed promise, but the numbers simply weren't there. As a senior, she blew up with the numbers we see above. She was 1st team All-Conference and NFCA (Coaches Association)1st team All-America as she hit .441 with 10 doubles, 10 homers, 50 RBIs, an .803 slugging percentage, a .486 on base percentage, and a 1.289 OPS. She was impossible to miss with her wild style and enthusiastic attitude. She took extra bases no one else would even consider, she stole 3rd when she didn't need to... I always said she played at one speed, the speed of crazy. And I loved it.

The other obvious choice for MNU Softball All-Decade Outfielder is KK Bayless in 2019. The freshman (freshman!) center fielder started all 45 games and hit a cool .525. And it wasn't a soft .525. This wasn't your singles-only slap hitters beating out little tappers .525. No, of Bayless' 73 hits, 33 were for extra bases. She had 18 doubles, 14 homers, 37 RBIs (from the leadoff spot), a .971 slugging percentage, a .595 on base percentage, and a 1.566 OPS with 25 steals. She was named Conference Player of the Week twice, 1st team All-Conference, Conference Freshman of the Year, Conference Player of the Year, and 1st team NAIA All-America. After an 0-3 in her 5th game, she was hitting .471. The next game she was 2-3 and she never dipped below .500 again. Hopefully I'll do another set of All-Decade teams in 2029, and she has a great shot of being the only one who could make it again.

One spot left for the outfielders, and it may come down to preference. Do you want speed or power? Does the team success factor in? There's also the DP spot coming up, but an actual DP has a pretty good shot at that one. This one is super close, and the MNU Softball All-Decade Right Fielder is Hayley Gately in 2015. I loved Alexis Pacheco's game and skill set, but the numbers above tilt slightly for Gately. They both earned Gold Gloves in right, so it has to come down to the offensive numbers. In 51 games, Gately hit .364 with 14 doubles, 2 triples, 8 homers, 58 RBIs, a .618 slugging percentage, a .394 on base percentage, and a 1.012 OPS.

Designated Player
The DP comes down to a handful of players mentioned above and a couple more who were 2-way players and listed often as DP. But let's narrow it to 3.
- Alexis Pacheco 2016 was a 1st team All-Conference & Gold Glove right fielder who hit .409 with 9 doubles, 2 homers, and a 1.001 OPS with 25 steals.
- Lydia Reyes 2017 was a 1st team All-Conference DP (with a Gold Glove somehow) who hit .361 with 7 doubles, 12 homers, 38 RBIs, and a 1.057 OPS.
- Emily Robinson 2018 hit .379 with an NAIA-leading 25 doubles, 4 homers, 34 RBIs, and a .996 OPS. She was 2nd team All-Conference as a pitcher that year, then earned 2nd team All-Conference DP in 2019.
The MNU Softball All-Decade DP is Lydia Reyes 2017. Pacheco's all-around game is heart-breaking to leave of this team, and watching Emily Robinson hit is truly can't-miss athletics theater. But Reyes put up MNU's then-5th highest single-season home run total, and she gets the nod.

Your MNU Softball All-Decade Team:
P: Penny (Eastman) Morin 2010
P: Jen (Costa) Beley 2011
C: Jessica Scarlett 2013
1B: Taylor (Ryal) Longley 2010
2B: Lynsey Keith 2013
3B: Macie Jones 2016
SS: Tianna George 2013
LF: Jen Polivka 2013
CF: KK Bayless 2019
RF: Hayley Gately 2015
DP: Lydia Reyes 2017

softball all-decade

Print Friendly Version