SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Summit League announced the 2021 All-Summit League Softball Teams and individual awards, with Summit League regular season champion South Dakota State sweeping the individual accolades through a vote of the league's seven head coaches.
South Dakota State freshman Cylie Halvorson was selected as the Player of the Year, while freshman Tori Kniesche was selected as the Pitcher of the Year. South Dakota State pitcher Grace Glanzer won the Freshman of the Year award with Krista Wood earning Coach of the Year honors.
Halvorson was a mainstay in the Jackrabbit lineup, starting all 43 games she played in. She posted a .411 batting average, third-best in league play, during the regular season and registered a league-high 16 home runs and 51 RBI with 50 hits, nine doubles and one triple while also scoring 28 runs. In league play, Halvorson led the league in RBI (26), doubles (6) and recorded a league-best 56 total bases. Additionally, Halvorson was third in batting average (.411) and hits (30) in league play. The freshman outfielder was perfect in the field with 237 putouts, 11 assists and zero errors.
Kniesche was dominate in the circle for the Jackrabbits, leading her squad with 19 wins, including a perfect 11-0 in league play. She posted a league-best 1.50 ERA with 92 strikeouts and an impressive .131 opponent batting average in league action. In 21 appearances and 107.0 innings pitched, she completed 10 games while also saving one. Kniesche threw two-straight no-hitters in less than two weeks, with the first one against South Dakota on April 24 and her second consecutive no-hitter on April 30 against Creighton. During the season, she earned Summit League Pitcher of the Week honors three times.
After leading the Summit League and team in strikeouts and ERA during the shorted 2020 season, Glanzer picked up where she left off for South Dakota State. She earned 16 wins, second best in The Summit League behind teammate Kniesche in 23 appearances with one save. In 139.0 innings pitched, Glanzer earned a 1.86 ERA with 94 strikeouts and a batting average against of .188. In Summit League action, she started 11 games, posting a 9-1 record in the circle with nine complete games and a league-best 0.99 ERA.
South Dakota State head coach Krista Wood earned her second Summit League Coach of the Year honor in her career and first since 2018. Wood led her squad to its first Summit League regular season title after posting a 21-1 league record. Between March 19 and April 17, Wood and the Jackrabbits won 14 consecutive games, including the first 14 league contests.
Halvorson, Kniesche and Glanzer were named first-team All-Summit League performers and were joined on the 14 member squad by teammates, Allison Yoder, Lindsey Culver, Emma Osmundson, Jocelyn Carrillo and Kelsey Lenox; Kansas City's Kloe Hilbrenner, Lia Lombardini and Ally Vonfeldt; Omaha's Jamie White; North Dakota State's Montana DeCamp; Western Illinois' Sydney Hollings.
The 14 member Second Team All-Summit League Softball squad is comprised of North Dakota State's Lainey Lyle, Avery Wysong, Sam Koehn and Madyson Camacho; Omaha's Kamryn Meyer, Emily Klosterman and Izzy Eltze; Kansas City's Alexis D'Ambrosio and Mia Hoveland; South Dakota's Lauren Wobken and Courtney Wilson; Western Illinois' Kellie Marcheschi and Savannah Rodriguez; South Dakota State's Peyton Daugherty.
Six of the league's seven teams will embark in Fargo Wednesday-Saturday for The Summit League Softball Championships presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare. The action starts Wednesday at 3 p.m. CT when fourth-seeded Kansas City takes on No. 5 South Dakota at the Tharaldson Park at the Ellig Sports Complex. All games will be streamed at thesummitleague.org/watch, televised by MidcoSN and streamed digitally on Midco Sports Plus app.
2021 All-Summit League Softball Teams and Individual Awards
(as selected by The Summit League head coaches)
Player of the Year: Cylie Halvorson, South Dakota State
Pitcher of the Year: Tori Kniesche, South Dakota State
Freshman of the Year: Grace Glanzer, South Dakota State
Coach of the Year: Krista Wood, South Dakota State
First Team
P - Tori Kniesche, South Dakota State
P – Grace Glanzer, South Dakota State
C – Allison Yoder, South Dakota State
1B – Cylie Halvorson, South Dakota State
2B – Lindsey Culver, South Dakota State
SS – Sydney Hollings, Western Illinois
3B – Jamie White, Omaha
OF – Emma Osmundson, South Dakota State
OF – Kloe Hilbrenner, Kansas City
OF – Jocelyn Carrillo, South Dakota State
DP – Kelsey Lenox, South Dakota State
1B – Lia Lombardini, Kansas City
SS – Montana DeCamp, North Dakota State
3B – Ally Vonfeldt, Kansas City
Second Team
P – Kamryn Meyer, Omaha
P – Lainey Lyle, North Dakota State
C – Avery Wysong, North Dakota State
1B – Kellie Marcheschi, Western Illinois
2B – Lauren Wobken, South Dakota
SS – Emily Klosterman, Omaha
3B – Sam Koehn, North Dakota State
OF – Madyson Camacho, North Dakota State
OF – Peyton Daugherty, South Dakota State
OF – Izzy Eltze, Omaha
DP – Savannah Rodriguez, Western Illinois
C – Alexis D'Ambrosio, Kansas City
OF – Courtney Wilson, South Dakota
P – Mia Hoveland, Kansas City
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