Three Siena Heights softball players -- senior Katie O'Hotzke, junior Taylor Hayes and sophomore Mariah Boss -- were named to the All-Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference First Team, as announced by the league on Wednesdayl. A total of 12 Saints received WHAC honors.
Hayes was honored as an infielder. Heading into the WHAC Tournament, she leads the team with a .405 batting average, 45 hits, and 14 doubles. Hayes ranks fifth in the WHAC in batting average, 10th in hits, second in doubles, eighth in home runs, fourth in slugging percentage, and eighth in on-base percentage.
O'Hotzke was honored as a pitcher. She leads the Saints in most pitching categories including 14 wins, 152.1 innings pitched and 118 strikeouts. In the WHAC pitching rankings, O'Hotzke leads the league in innings, appearances and starts. She is also third in wins and fourth in strikeouts. At the plate, O'Hotzke leads the Saints in with 10 homers, 33 RBI, a .712 slugging percentage and a .496 on-base percentage. In the WHAC, O'Hotzke is first in home runs and walks, third in slugging percentage and on-base percentage, and sixth in RBI.
Boss was honored as an outfielder. She leads the Saints with 15 stolen bases. Within the WHAC, Boss is currently fourth with 37 hits, sixth with 17 walks, and fourth in stolen bases.
Also for the Saints, freshmen Megan Jones and Kenya Keller received All-WHAC Honorable Mention accolades. Keller leads the WHAC in triples as she tied the single-season SHU mark with seven three-baggers so far. Jones has knocked in 23 runs for the Saints, including a walk off home run earlier in the year.
Siena Heights had a league-high eight students who were honored for their work in the classroom as members of the Academic All-WHAC team. To be honored a student must be a junior or senior academically and maintain a 3.25 cumulative GPA or higher. The Saints who earned this award were Boss, Hayes, Megan Higdon, Morgan Huttenlocker, Ashley O'Leary, Jenn Sylvester, Bitty Treece, and Morgan Warfield.
The final award receipient is Kelsey Lampkowski who is honored as a member of the Champions of Character team. This award goes to the player from each school who is deemed to best represent the five core character values the NAIA embraces which are respect, integrity, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership.
The Saints ended their regular season at 19-19 overall and 10-8 in the WHAC. They earned the No. 4 seed in the WHAC Tournament and will begin play on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. when they face the fifth-seed Aquinas.
