Last Thursday, the Midwest Conference announced the 2016 All-Midwest Conference Baseball Team. The All-Midwest Conference Softball Team was announced the following Saturday. For the baseball team, Lawrence University’s own sophomore Matt Holliday and freshman Nolan Spencer were given spots in the All-North Division. Holliday was recognized for the first base and pitcher positions. Spencer was recognized at short stop. On the softball team, senior Tierney Duffy was given the spot in the outfield on the second team. Individuals are selected to be on the all-conference team in a vote by the Midwest Conference coaches.
This is the second consecutive year that Holliday was chosen for the team. He is an infielder and a pitcher, and suffered an injury during the last nine games of the season. Holliday hit .412 during the entire season and hit .410 during conference play. For the season, Holliday had a 4-1 record with a 3.56 earned run average, while in conference play, he had a 2-0 record with a 3.38 earned run average. Holliday scored two homers and 17 runs in his 27 games.
Spencer started all but five games at shortstop. The five exceptions were due to an injury. This is the second consecutive season that a freshman from Lawrence has received all-conference honors, the first one being Holliday last year. Lawrence’s baseball team is the only team to have succeeded in doing so. Spencer hit .413 on the season and .379 in conference play. His season hitting was a team-high for Lawrence. Spencer scored 21 runs throughout the season. During league, Spencer was noted for his .962 fielding percentage at shortstop.
Duffy hit .418 for the season, ranking her second in the Midwest Conference, while her conference hitting was .377. In league play, She posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage and succeed 11 times out of 12 on stolen bases during the 20 conference games. Duffy posted a .457 on-base percentage and scored 27 runs. Duffy was also selected for the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Great Lakes Region second team, along with sophomore and shortstop Meg Krautsch. This is the ninth consecutive year that at least one all-region selection has been from Lawrence and the nineteenth time in the last twenty years.
Krautsch hit .405 for the season, a career-high for her, and scored 30 runs. Krautsch missed the final ten games of the season due to an injury. She had a .980 fielding percentage during the season. During her 24 games, Krautsch had at least one hit in 17. Krautsch has a season-high of five runs in the Vikings’ game against Rockford University.
Holliday, Spencer, Duffy and Krautsch represented Lawrence University on the Midwest Conference Baseball and Softball teams, as well as the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Great Lakes Region team with outstanding performances throughout the season, despite ailments that had impacted them individually. The baseball team finished the season with a record of 11-25 for the season and fifth in the North Division of the Midwest conference, while the softball team finished an overall record of 18-14-2 and 11-8-1 in conference play.
