Five softball players on IGCA all-state team

Published by editor on Thu, 08/20/2020 - 9:29am

All-state selections by the Iowa Girls Coaches Association. Top row, left to right: 1A second-team selection Ali Gerbracht (AGWSR); 1A first-team MaKenna Kuper (AGWSR). Bottom row: 1A third-team Rachel Sicard (AGWSR); 2A second-team Taylor Kvale (Dike-New Hartford); 1A third-team Kiersten Kruse (BCLUW). (Jake Ryder photos)

By:

Jake Ryder

regionalsports@midamericapub.com

The Iowa Girls Coaches Association released their all-state softball teams last week, with five Grundy Register-area athletes honored.

In Class 2A, Dike-New Hartford sophomore Taylor Kvale was named to the third team. Kvale hit .404 with 20 runs scored and was third in 2A with 26 stolen bases.

A trio of AGWSR players was chosen to the 1A team; MaKenna Kuper earned first-team honors in her junior season, senior Ali Gerbracht was a second-team pick and fellow senior Rachel Sicard earned a spot on the third team.

Kuper hit .460 with three doubles, two triples and five home runs, tied for the fourth-most roundtrippers in 1A, adding 17 runs batted in. Gerbracht hit .306 with 19 RBI and 16 runs scored, had a .966 fielding percentage at catcher and pitcher; Gerbracht threw 24 innings with 20 strikeouts. Sicard tied for third-most homers in 1A with six, hitting .4040 with six doubles and striking out 62 batters in 78.2 innings pitched in the circle.

BCLUW senior Kiersten Kruse was also recognized on the third team of the 1A squad. Kruse stole 24 bases this summer, tying for the fifth-highest total on the basepaths in 1A. She led the Comets with a .390 average, scoring 22 times and hitting two doubles and four triples.

Additionally, Coaches of the Year were named in each class; Ogden’s Mike Moses earned the 2A honor for the state champion Bulldogs, and Katie Wedeking was named 1A’s coach of the year as head coach of the state-title-winning Clarksville team.