East’s Boze, Columbia’s Van Breusegen headline locals named to all-state softball team
Belleville East senior catcher Alex Boze and Columbia outfielder Keeler Van Breusegen are among five local softball players named as first-team all-state selections by the Illinois Coaches Association for the 2018 season.
The 2017 Belleville News-Democrat Large School Player of the Year and a Missouri State University recruit, Boze was among the top offensive players in the St. Louis area this spring, batting .523 with 10 home runs and 42 RBI for a Lancers team which finished 28-8 and placed second in the Southwestern Conference
Van Breusegen, a Bradley University softball recruit, was named to the Class 3A all-state team, while Marquette pitcher Meghan Schorman and Nashville senior shortstop and Evansville University recruit Mackenzie McFerron were named to the Class 2A squad.
New Athens standout Julia Drake was named as a first-team Class 1A all-state selection.
Boze was one of three Belleville East players who game mention on the Class 4A all-state team. East senior pitcher Kristina Bettis gained second-team all-state status after finishing the season with a 21-5 record and 1.89 ERA in 148 innings. Bettis also batted .491 with four home runs and 22 RBIs.
Third-team all-state selections included East junior Alyssa Krausz who batted .491 with nine home runs and 46 RBI. Alton sophomore first baseman Ashlyn Betz was also a third-team all-state selection after batting .509 with a home run and 41 RBI.
Van Breusegen was one of several standouts for a Columbia team which was undefeated for much of the season, won a regional championship and finished with 32-2 record.
Van Breusegen, who play in the Missouri Valley Conference next season as a member of the Bradley Braves, batted .461 with a home run and 32 RBI for the Eagles during her senior season.
Two Eagles teammates , senior catcher Chelsy Pena and junior infielder Lexi Touchette, were named as second-team all-state selections. Pena, a second-team all-state player a year ago, hit .458 with nine home runs and 46 RBI, while Touchette batted .464 with eight home runs and 37 RBI.
A fourth Eagles player, senior infielder Calli Wibbenmeyer, was a third-team all-state selection. Wibbenmeyer batted .402 with nine home runs and 39 RBI.
Freeburg standout Miranda Schulte was a second-team all-state selection. Schulte, who will attend and play college softball in the Big 10 Conference at the University of Iowa, was one of the top two-way players in the state. At the plate, Schulte batted .560 with 4 home runs and 49 RBI.
But also the anchor of the Midgets pitching staff, Schulte finished her senior season with a record of 26-2 and an ERA OF 1.15. in 175 innings, Schulte had 237 strike outs.
McFeron, who will also play in the MVC next season as a member of the Evansville University Purple Aces, is joined as a Class 2A first-team all-state selection by Schorman, the Marquette pitcher, who was 26-2 on the mound for the Explorers with a 0.57 ERA.
Schorman had 346 strike outs in 183 innings
Class 2A second-team all-state selections included infielder Abi Stahlhut, of Roxana, while infielders Morgan Moxie and Maci Flanigan, of Wood River; outfielder Jada Johnson and infeilder Tess Eberlin, of Marquette; third baseman Phoebe Booher, of Roxana; and outfielders Jordan Stiegman and Sophie Heck, of Nashville, were all Class 2A third-team all-state selections.
In Class 1A, New Athens sophomore pitcher-outfielder Julia Drake was a first-team all-state selection. On the mound Drake finished 21-3 and had a 1.45 ERA for the Yellow Jackets with a 1.45 ERA. Drake also hit .333 with two home runs and 20 RBI.
New Athens also had a pair of third-team all-state players in outfielder Lindsey Poirot who hit .452 with a home run and 25 RBI while catcher Jenna Alfledt had a final average of .394 with a home run and 21 RBI.
This story was originally published June 19, 2018 at 9:38 AM with the headline "East’s Boze, Columbia’s Van Breusegen headline locals named to all-state softball team."