Comets named to All-NEIC Baseball and Softball Teams

Press Staff Report
The state championships-bound Charles City Comets are well represented among the All-Northeast Iowa Conference Softball Teams selections released on Thursday.

Five Comets were named to the First Team — most in the conference — and eight Comets altogether were honored.

Senior middle infielder Lisabeth Fiser was named to her fourth All-NEIC First Team.

A Class 4A All-State First Team selection last season, Fiser leads the Comets with a .470 batting average, 31 hits, 23 stolen bases in as many attempts, and 20 runs scored. Fiser also has made opposing defenses reconsider closing in on her as the left-side slap hitter has taken to the “long ball” as of late with an out-of-the-park home run shot off Crestwood ace Laken Leinhard and a pair of team-leading triples hit over shallow outfielders.

Sophomore catcher Ashlyn Hoeft and sophomore center fielder Lydia Staudt were both named to their second All-NEIC First Team.

Coming off a knee injury that sidelined her during the basketball and track seasons, Hoeft leads the Comets with six home runs, 20 RBIs and a slugging percentage of .769.

Staudt has a .468 batting average and a perfect fielding percentage (1.000) while patrolling the outfield.

Senior outfielder Alex Litterer was named to her first All-NEIC First Team after being an Honorable Mention selection last season. This season Litterer is hitting .412 and has stolen 16 bases.

Junior third baseman Allie Cross was named to her first All-NEIC First Team after being a Second Team selection last season. Cross is hitting .354 with a home run and 16 RBIs.

Junior shortstop Kiki Connell was named to her second All-NEIC Second Team. Connell leads the team with a .517 on-base percentage and has stolen 21 bases out of 22 attempts.

Junior designated player/hitter and first baseman Sadie Gebel and freshman first baseman Ava Ellis were both named All-NEIC Honorable Mention. Gebel is hitting .449 and slugging .653 with a pair of home runs. Ellis leads the team with five doubles and has driven in 17 runs.

Selections for the All-NEIC Baseball Teams were also released on Thursday.

Middle infielder JJ Ritter was Charles City’s lone First Team selection, a second-straight distinction for the Comet junior who hit. 298 and led the team in runs scored (15), bases on balls (12), on-base percentage (.469) and slugging percentage (.489).

Senior Tait Arndt was named to his second-straight All-NEIC Second Team. As a hitter, Arndt led the Comets in home runs (3) and RBIs (15). As a pitcher, Arndt was 3-2 with a 2.81 earned run average and struck out a staff-leading 35 in 32.1 innings.

Senior outfielder/pitcher Elliott Sinnwell was also named to his second-straight All-NEIC Second Team. Sinnwell was hitting .333 and was credited with Comet staff’s only save before leaving the team mid-season to serve in the Army National Guard.

Those Comets named All-NEIC Honorable Mention include senior infielder/pitcher Atticus Parrott, junior center fielder Jeremiah Chapman, and junior catcher Kaden Barry.

Parrott, who was co-leader with Chapman with most hits (16) on the team, was 2-0 on the mound with a team-leading 1.75 earned run average while yielding opposing hitters to a collective .163 batting average.

Chapman hit .314 and was second on the team with 13 runs scored. Not only did Chapman get a good jump on the base paths while stealing a team-leading seven bases in as many attempts, he also got good off-contact jumps on deep fly balls and line drives hit in the gaps while patrolling the outfield.

Barry hit .316 and sported a perfect fielding percentage behind the plate while throwing out three would-be base stealers.

Other All-NEIC Softball selections include (First Team) Paetyn Blockhus and Laken Lienhard of Crestwood; Naomi Goede of Oelwein; Annika Headington of Waukon; Kacey Olson of New Hampton; Avery Shelton of Decorah; (Second Team) Isabel Ihde, Ella Kittleson and Ellie Luzum of Decorah; Kyleigh Foster, Lexi Hoppe and Olivia Ollendick of Crestwood; Haley Eckerman of Waverly-Shell Rock; Rachel Rinken and Kiersten Tenge of New Hampton; Zoey Risner of Oelwein; (Honorable Mention) Marley Hagarty and Lindsey Miller of Waverly-Shell Rock; Bryar Duwe of Decorah; Regan Griffith of Waukon; Kennedy Lape of Oelwein; Krsylynn Ruppert of Crestwood; Ali Russler of New Hampton.

Other All-NEIC Baseball selections include (First Team) Jeremy Chaplin, Kaden Dewey, Tyler Heine, Brodey Key and Payton Leonard of Waverly-Shell Rock; Carter Henry and Kade Munkel of Crestwood; Cael Luzum and Tyler Thompson of Decorah; Austin Hemann and Hunter Pesek of New Hampton; (Second Team) Chase Carpenter, Carson Graven and Chance Key of Waverly-Shell Rock; Kody Bodensteiner and Keenan Tyler of Decorah; Hunter Bye and Gabe Grabau of Crestwood; Carter Schellsmidt of Waukon; Drake Wemark of New Hampton; (Honorable Mention) Briggs Duwe and Brody Young of Decorah; Isaac Roe and John Ronan of Waukon; Connor Rochford of New Hampton; Gage Voshell of Oelwein.