By Paul Lecker
Sports Reporter
MARSHFIELD — The Wisconsin Valley Conference recently announced its all-conference baseball and softball teams.
Baseball
After finishing 6-6 and in a tie for fourth place in the conference standings, Marshfield landed four players on the 2017 All-Wisconsin Valley Conference Baseball Team.
Senior outfielder Braden Bohman, senior pitcher Jake Brueggen, and junior catcher Paul Maguire were second-team selections, and senior first baseman Jared Klein was an honorable mention choice.
Bohman led the Tigers in batting, hitting .351 (13-for-37) with 10 runs scored, one home run, nine RBIs, and six stolen bases.
Despite posting a solid 1.48 ERA, Brueggen was just 2-3 with one save. In seven games, he threw 28 1/3 innings, and he also batted .313 as he played outfield when not pitching.
Maguire hit .257 with six RBIs and five runs scored, and Klein batted .262 with six RBIs for the Tigers.
Senior outfielder Payton Nelson of Wausau West was named Player of the Year after helping the Warriors to the conference title. He hit .477 with seven doubles, four home runs, 15 RBIs, and 19 runs scored in 12 Valley games.
Softball
Marshfield was well-represented on the 2017 All-Wisconsin Valley Conference Softball Team with three first-team selections and six players overall on the squad.
Junior pitcher Megan Donahue was a unanimous first-team pick after throwing every game in conference play for the Tigers. She finished 9-3 to help Marshfield to a second-place tie in the conference standings with D.C. Everest.
Donahue had a 2.09 ERA with 107 strikeouts in 77 innings pitched. She also was a force offensively, hitting .452 (14-for-31) with a conference-high five home runs. She finished fourth in runs scored with 13, fifth in RBIs with 15, and first in both walks (12) and on-base percentage (.605).
Joining Donahue on the first team for Marshfield were junior catcher Emily Draeger and sophomore center fielder Jenna Jakobi.
Draeger was also a unanimous pick to the first team after hitting .378 with 13 runs scored and 10 RBIs. Jakobi batted .364 with nine runs scored and stole five bases.
Junior infielder Morgan Nordbeck and sophomore right fielder Rhiannon Corozollla were second-team selections for Marshfield.
Nordbeck, who played both second base and shortstop during the season, hit .324 with 12 runs scored and four RBIs in WVC play. Corozolla was eighth in the conference in hitting with a .429 average (15-for-35) and had three home runs and eight RBIs.
Senior Melissa Roberts, who mostly played at third base for the Tigers, was the team’s lone honorable mention selection after hitting .237 with 14 RBIs.
D.C. Everest senior pitcher Miranda Gajewski was named the conference’ Player of the Year. She hit .455 with three home runs and 14 RBIs and also was 9-3 pitching with a 1.84 ERA and 107 strikeouts in 83 2/3 innings pitched.
Tom Drohner of conference-champion Stevens Point was selected as Coach of the Year.
Paul Lecker is publisher of MarshfieldAreaSports.com, a contributor to Hub City Times Sports. You can reach him by email at paul@marshfieldareasports.com.
