by Scott Watson
The North Central Conference released its all-conference softball list last week and five Clear Lake Lions found their names on the list.
Clear Lake was well represented o the First Team. Annika Nelson, Alivia Paine and Taylor Schwenn were all named to the First Team. Makella Jacobs and Jezzie Thompson were named to the Second Team.
Nelson, a senior, earned First Team honors as a catcher. Nelson climbed over 100 career hits with a batting average of .321. She was sixth in the NCC with five doubles for the season.
“This is the third year in a row Annika has been a first-team player, which means she has been a consistently outstanding player for a long time. Despite having a shoulder injury that limited her ability to both throw and hit, she put up great numbers,” said Coach Seth Thompson.
Paine, a freshman, was named to the First Team as an infielder. She added over .200 points to her batting average from last year. Her individual hitting stats placed her in fourth place in the NCC. She had a batting average of .452. and had 14 RBIs for the season
“Alivia had an outstanding season,” said Thompson. “She really set a great example of how a player can improve year-to-year with hard work and a willingness to learn. She did a great job learning the shortstop position mid-year when her team needed her to.”
Schwenn, an infielder, is off to a solid start on her career, being just an eighth grader. Schwenn had the second-highest slugging percentage in the conference. She tied with Jacobs to have the most home runs of the season with four. She also was a leader in the conference with six doubles. She tied for the lead in RBIs with 18.
“Taylor has about as much raw talent as a player can have at 14 years old. She has already proven she’s a hitter that can do some damage,” said Thompson. “As an eighth grader she also did a great job defensively, playing almost every position on the field at some point this season.”
Another eighth grader making some waves this season was Jezzie Thompson. She earned her Second Team recognition as a pitcher. Thompson ended the season with the most strikeouts and best ERA of any Clear Lake pitcher in the last 15 years. She could also get around the bases in record team, tying for third in the conference with 12 stolen bases.
“Jezzie did a great job all year on the rubber and gave her team a chance to win games. She ended up with the most innings pitched of any eighth grader in the state. This was a huge help to the team because we graduated our only varsity pitchers from last year, and both of last year’s JV pitchers were batting injuries all season long,” said Thompson.
Jacobs, a senior, was named Second Team as an infielder. She tied with Thompson for home runs with 15. She ended the season with a batting average of .317. She finished the conference season with 12 RBIs
“All season long Makella was huge for our team both on and off the field. She did a great job helping our young players learn the game and showing them the hard work and focus it takes to be a great player,” said Thompson. “She got better and better as the season went on.”
Clear Lake ended their NCC season in fourth place with a 7-7 record. They had an overall record of 11-13. St. Edmond won the conference with a record of 12-2.
