Five players named to NFCA Midwest All-Region Team
Five Kirkwood Community College softball players received National Fastpitch Coaches Association honors. Sophomores Molly Link, Carlie Schnoebelen and Kylee Knop along with freshmen Amanda Lambrecht and Jami Miller were recognized as members of the NFCA Midwest All-Region Team. Link, Knop, Lambrecht and Miller are in the running for All-American honors voted on in early June.
Second baseman Molly Link had a breakout season at the plate. She broke the single-season hits record by 16 with 106 hits. Link also broke the homerun record with 14 and had an impressive four homeruns in one day against Division I Southeastern Community College. She was named NJCAA Player of the Week after batting 0.552 at the plate and hitting three homeruns. She recorded 26 doubles on the year and ended the season with a remarkable 0.502 batting average. These impressive numbers earned her conference Co-Offensive Player of the Year honors. Link will continue her softball career at Winona State University.
Outfielder Carlie Schnoebelen was a First Team NFCA All-American for the Eagles last year, and worked hard this year to achieve the same honors. Schnoebelen recorded 72 hits with eight homeruns and a 0.429 batting average. Link and Schnoebelen share the single season record at Kirkwood with 26 doubles on the year. Schnoebelen also showed her aggressiveness on the base path by going 39 for 41 in stolen base attempts ranking her 12th in the country for stolen bases. She was named to the Region XI First Team All-Region team for conference play this year. Schnoebelen will continue her softball career at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
Pitcher Kylee Knop had a great sophomore year for the Eagles. In her freshman year she was named Second Team NJCAA All-American and NFCA Second Team All-American. This year Knop put up great statistics once again, striking out 144 batters and allowing just 26 walks with an earned run average of 1.174. Knop won 25 games for the Eagles this year, and recorded a no-hitter while receiving Region XI First Team All-Region honors for conference play this year. She ended her career as an Eagle with 47 career wins, breaking the previous career wins record at Kirkwood. Knop will continue her softball career at the University of South Carolina-Aiken.
Freshman pitcher Amanda Lambrecht proved a lot in her first year as an Eagle. She threw an impressive total of six no hitters and two perfect games. Lambrecht was named NJCAA Player of the Week after she threw a perfect game and a no hitter recording 48 strikeouts and just four hits in one week. Overall, she had 254 strikeouts and 49 walks with an earned run average of 0.820. Her total strikeouts beat the 12-year-old school record by 52, and ranks her second in the country for strike outs. Lambrecht also received conference Pitcher of the Year honors. She ended the season with a record of 23 wins and two losses.
Jami Miller saw action in all 61 games as a freshman third baseman for the Eagles. She was very successful at the plate with 82 hits, 13 homeruns and a 0.469 batting average. Miller brought a lot of spark to the Eagles offensive. She used speed to her advantage by being successful on all 28 stolen base attempts. Miller was named NJCAA Player of the Week after hitting an impressive 0.682 batting average with three homeruns in one week. She received Region XI First Team All-Region honors for conference play.
The Kirkwood Eagles Softball team finished play in the regular season with an impressive 55-6 overall record. Almost every record in the books was completely shattered including most wins, most runs scored, longest win streak and most shut-outs. The women will resume play next fall.