2021 D2CCA Softball All-Midwest Region Teams
On the eve of its NCAA Division II Midwest Regional opener, more honors are rolling in for the Hillsdale College softball team.
This set of prestigious awards comes from the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association, which announced its All-Midwest Region honorees on Tuesday evening. Players were nominated from across the region by the Sports Information Directors of the region's athletic departments, and those SIDs voted to hand out first and second team awards to 28 players, divided by position.
Five Chargers earned all-region honors from the D2CCA in 2021, the most all-region honorees for a Hillsdale softball squad since the mid-90s.
Leading the way is Sam Catron, who made the D2CCA All-Region first team as the second baseman. It's the second time this season that Catron has earned first team All-Region recognition, after also receiving the honor from the National Fastpitch Coaches association last week, and she joins former teammates Bekah Kastning (2017) and Katie Kish (2018) as the only Chargers in the last decade to receive first-team All-Region honors from both organizations in the same season.
The senior second baseman from Medina, Ohio is having a final season to remember for the Chargers in 2021, batting .400 and finishing in the top-10 all-time in Charger history for a single season in six offensive categories.
Catron hit 20 doubles, tying Brecken Libbe's single-season school record set in 2008, and also finished the season with the second-most home runs (14), runs scored (52) and RBIs (47) all-time in Hillsdale history. She also finished third in slugging percentage for a single season (.787) and in the top 10 in single-season hits (64) as well, and her .984 fielding percentage and 90 assists rank her among the best defensive second basemen in the region as well.
Her excellent 2021 has Catron in rarified company on the Chargers' all-time career lists as well. She's in the top 10 in five categories on Hillsdale's career lists, including second in home runs (23) and doubles (50), and fourth in RBIs (118).
Joining Catron on the All-Midwest Region first team is senior outfielder Natalie Stepanenko.
The senior from St. Clair Shores, Michigan shone in 2021, batting .347 with 13 doubles, a triple and 20 RBIs. She was in the top 10 in the G-MAC in four offensive categories, finishing third in the conference with 42 runs scored, fourth with 58 hits and tied for fourth in doubles (13), and tied for sixth in stolen bases (12).
Stepanenko also made a huge impact in right field defensively for the Chargers, leading the team in putouts in the outfield with 55. Her 2021 season puts her in the top 10 all-time at Hillsdale in both single season runs scored and at bats.
Three more Chargers earned second-team All-Region honors from the D2CCA.
Senior Madison Stoner earned a second-team nod as the team's catcher, adding to her second team All-Region honor she received last week from the NFCA. The honor comes after a season where the Hunker, Pennsylvania native led the Chargers in batting average (.460) 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 (.460) and slugging percentage (.708) rank in the top 10 all-time for a single season in Charger history, as does her eight home runs.
Joining Stoner on the D2CCA All-Region second team is junior outfielder Renee Bielawa, who also earned second-team honors last week from the NFCA as well.
The Woodridge, Illinois native batted .369 with 13 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 39 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.
Senior pitcher Dana Weidinger also earned second-team All-Region honors from the D2CCA, adding to her first-team All-G-MAC honor earlier this spring. The Bath, Ohio native is 20-5 with an ERA of 2.10, 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 (20) and strikeouts (131), and are part of a storied five-year career where Weidinger set the program's innings pitched record (573) and ranks second all-time in career wins (52) and third in strikeouts (366).
With their first team All-Region selections, Catron and Stepanenko are now eligible for consideration for D2CCA Softball Division II All-American honors. Several Chargers also will be up for NFCA All-American honors as well.
The Chargers hope to add a deep NCAA Tournament run to their individual accolades. Hillsdale opens the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional at 11 a.m. tomorrow against Trevecca Nazarene at Grand Valley St. University in Allendale, Michigan.