2020-21 G-MAC Softball All-Conference Teams
The Hillsdale College softball team's best regular season performance in three decades is being rewarded with a level of conference honors the team hasn't seen since those early-90s squads.
On Thursday, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference office announced All-Conference teams for the 2021 softball season, and the runner-up Chargers were amply rewarded.
Three Hillsdale players earned first-team All-Conference honors, the most first-team honorees the Chargers have had since 1993.
Fifth-year seniors Sam Catron and Dana Weidinger were both among the first-team honorees for Hillsdale. The pair chose to return for an extra year after the 2020 season was abruptly cancelled, and they've made the most of the additional year of eligibility.
Catron was the first-team second baseman. The Medina, Ohio native is having a monster year at the plate, batting .408 with a G-MAC leading 60 hits, 48 runs scored, 19 doubles and 14 home runs. She also finished the season second in the conference in RBIs (46), third in slugging percentage (.823), fifth in on-base percentage (.460) and seventh in batting average. One of the top fielders at her position in the league, Catron posted a .980 fielding percentage with just three errors in 44 starts.
The senior is on pace for a record setting end to her career. Her slugging percentage in 2021 is good for third all-time in a single season in Hillsdale history, and she needs just two doubles, two home runs and four RBIs to break all three single-season school records. She's also in the top 10 for her career in Hillsdale history in hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs and walks as well.
Weidinger was one of four pitchers who was named to the All-G-MAC first team after a dominant season. The senior went 18-4 with an ERA of 1.93, one of the best marks of the last two decades for a pitcher at Hillsdale. She was especially dominant in conference play, going 9-1 with a 1.89 ERA, and her only loss coming in a 2-1 defeat to Cedarville where she gave up just four hits and one earned run.
Her 2021 season ranks among the top 10 all-time in Hillsdale history in wins (18) and strikeouts (115), and are part of a storied five-year career where Weidinger set the program's innings pitched record (554.1) and ranks second all-time in career wins (50) and third in strikeouts (350).
Also making the first-team for the Chargers is Natalie Stepanenko. A senior outfielder who went from spot-duty her first two seasons to a full-time starter in 2021, Stepanenko shone in 2021, batting .357 with 12 doubles, a triple and 19 RBIs. She was in the top 10 in the G-MAC in four offensive categories, finishing third in the conference with 55 hits and 37 runs scored, sixth in doubles and seventh in stolen bases (11).
Stepanenko also made a huge impact in right field defensively for the Chargers, leading the team in putouts in the outfield with 55.
Along with the three first-team honorees, the Chargers also had four players earn second-team All-G-MAC honors, setting a record for most first or second-team honorees in a single season in program history.
Leading the second-team honorees is senior catcher Madison Stoner, who led the Chargers in batting average (.449) and on-base percentage (.517), and finished in the top 10 in the G-MAC in seven offensive categories, and in the top five in six.
Both Stoner's batting average and slugging percentage (.685) rank in the top 10 all-time for a single season in Charger history, as does her seven home runs.
Senior first baseman Emma Johnson also earned second-team honors for Hillsdale, batting .333 with six doubles, a triple and two home runs. Johnson was one of the top defensive players at first base in the G-MAC this season, finishing fourth in put-outs with 268 and leading the G-MAC in fielding double play balls (11).
Two juniors earned their first All-G-MAC honors as well for the Chargers, making the second team.
Junior third baseman Elaine Townley made the squad after batting .341 with 11 doubles, four home runs and 25 RBIs this season, finishing in the top 10 in the G-MAC in five offensive categories. She was also one of the conference's top defenders with 100 assists on the season, 14 more than second place in the league.
Last, but not least, junior outfielder Renee Bielawa earned second-team honors as well for Hillsdale. Bielawa batted .360 with 13 doubles, a triple, four home runs and 35 RBIs, finishing the season in the top 10 in the G-MAC in five offensive categories. She also was a strong defender in left field, finishing with a .949 fielding percentage and 35 putouts on the season.
Hillsdale looks to build off a strong regular season that included its most wins (29) since 1991 by capturing its third straight conference tournament title this weekend in Findlay, Ohio. Games began today, Thursday, and will continue through the title game on Saturday.