North Butler, Rockford softball players named to Class 1A All-State teams
Press photo by Andrew Larson Bearcat Marcy Jacobs was a 3rd-team selection.
Press photo by John Burbridge Sophomore Marissa Norby helped Rockford to a 17-11 record.
Press photo by John Burbridge North Butler ace Taylor Graven helped get the Bearcats a win away from advancing to the State Softball Tournament before yielding one run to eventual Class 1A champion Lansing Kee in a 1-0 regional final loss.
Staff Report
The North Butler Bearcats can find solace in several areas in a season where they were stopped a game short of the Softball State Tournament.
One, they lost to the eventual state champion, Lansing Kee, in the Class 1A Region 3 final.
Two, the Kee-Hawks’ 1-0 victory over Bearcats was the closest they came to elimination during the entire postseason.
Three, the Bearcats will return a lot of key players next season.
Four, Five, Six and Seven, a portion of that returning talent was honored by the Iowa Girls Coaches Association when it announced its Class 1A All-State selections on Wednesday.
Junior Taylor Graven was selected to the first team; sophomore Marcy Jacobs was a third-team selection; and junior Kayla Siemens and sophomore Nicole Heeren were named honorable mention.
As the ace of the Bearcats’ pitching staff, Graven was 22-3 with a 0.96 earned run average. Graven also hit .467 with six homers and 27 runs batted in.
Jacobs edged Graven for the team’s highest batting average honors (.468) and led the Bearcats in hits (44).
Siemens hit .409 and led the Bearcats in stolen bases (9). Sophomore Heeren hit .404, matched Graven’s six homers to co-lead the team, and proved to be an excellent defensive catcher and game-caller for the 26-4 Bearcats.
Rockford’s ace pitcher Marissa Norby was named to the Class 1A second team. The sophomore hit .385 with three homers, and logged in 153 innings pitched for the 17-11 Warriors, who were stopped in the Class 1A Region 2 semifinal with a 8-6 loss to Bishop Garrigan.
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