Softball Newsletter (4/15/15)

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Wheaton’s Alyssa Leonard and North Central’s Andrea Starr were named the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Softball Players of the Week on Tuesday.

Leonard, a junior outfielder from Highlands Ranch, Colorado and Mountain Vista High School (Math & Secondary Education major), batted .500 (9-for-18) with five runs, two doubles, two home runs, 12 RBI and a .944 slugging percentage for the 4-0 Thunder last week. She finished a combined 4-for-9 with two runs and three RBI in a double-header sweep of Carthage on April 7. Leonard then finished 5-for-9 with three runs and nine RBI in a double-header sweep of Millikin on April 11.

Starr, a junior pitcher from Elk Grove, Illinois and Elk Grove High School (Exercise Science major), finished 3-0 with two saves, a 0.57 ERA and 20 strikeouts in five appearances for the Cardinals last week. She pitched all seven innings with four strikeouts in a 4-0 shutout of Elmhurst and also pitched seven innings with six strikeouts in a 3-0 no-hitter win against Chicago on April 11. Earlier in the week, Starr struck out eight batters in a 16-0 win against Beloit on April 7. She picked up saves in game two against both Elmhurst and Chicago.

2015 CCIW Softball Players of the Week

Hitter
Alyssa Leonard – Wheaton (4/14/15)
Laura Bonds – Illinois Wesleyan (4/7/15)
Kiersten Tinkoff – North Central (3/31/15)
Bella Masini – Elmhurst (3/24/15)
Laura Bonds – Illinois Wesleyan (3/17/15)
Becca Thompson – Millikin (3/10/15)
Laura Behnke – Augustana (3/3/15)

Pitcher
Andrea Starr – North Central (4/14/15)
Katie Thornton – Wheaton (4/7/15)
Mackenzie Marquis – Illinois Wesleyan (3/31/15)
Stephanie Sturino – Elmhurst (3/24/15)
Katie Thornton – Wheaton (3/17/15)
Chloe Montgomery – Illinois Wesleyan (3/10/15)
Ashley Anderson – Augustana (3/3/15)

Twitter & Instagram: @CCIW_Athletics

The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services eight member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2013-14 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,400 academic all-conference recipients, 14 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 33 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients and 87 all-Americans.