OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The Association of Division III Independents released their 2016-17 All-Independent Softball Team award winners today. This year's Mount Mary University softball team was heavily honored after their record setting season. Seven of the usual starting ten made either the All-Independent first or second team (the Blue Angels used the designated player in 94 percent of their games).
Two freshmen from the Blue Angels roster made the AD3I first team. Katie Arce (Fr./Cypress, Calif.) and Audrey Beck (Fr./Costa Mesa, Calif.) are members of the 2016-17 first team with their spectacular play this year.
Arce won the Blue Angels team MVP award this season with her .436 batting average, 18 RBIs, 41 hits, .983 fielding percentage and 10 doubles. Perhaps more impressive was the fact that in her 94 at-bats (third most for MMU) Arce struck out only three times.
Beck switched to the DP position after a nagging early season ailment limited her defensive play. Acclimating to the new position with gusto, Beck finished with a .398 batting average, a team leading .590 slugging percentage and 13 stolen bases.
Rounding up the All-Independent second team, Sidnee Turnage (Fr./Hesperia, Calif.), Madison Ledda (So./Tracy, Calif.), Jess Runge (Sr./Freedom, Wis.), Lisa George (Fr./Naches, Wash.) and Amelia Flint (Jr./Whitefish Bay, Wis.) made the 2016-17 installment of the AD3I second team after they helped MMU set their new single season wins record.
Turnage finished the year with .416 batting average, .584 slugging percentage, and a team leading four homeruns, 42 hits and 22 RBIs.
Teammates Ledda, George and Flint all hit over .300 this season as they helped carry MMU to a team .316 batting average. Both George and Flint helped bolstered the "deep-ball" with one and three respectively.
Runge fought through on-going ailments all season long and posted a .274 batting average and a team leading four triples. Taking over at shortstop for the majority of games this season, Runge finished her final collegiate season with a .968 fielding percentage and was a part of eight double plays (a play much more rare in collegiate softball than its hardball counterpart).
Find out the entirety of the 2016-17 All-Independent honorees right here. Stay tuned to mtmaryathletics.com for more updates on all your favorite Blue Angels.
