Saints' Bremer headlines 2018 UMAC softball awards as Player of the Year
ST. PAUL, Minn.---For the 10th-straight year, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) saw the College of St. Scholastica win the regular season championship in 2018 with a solid 14-2 UMAC record behind another dominant season from a senior leader. This year, that individual for the Saints was Alexa Bremer who headlined the UMAC postseason awards as Player of the Year, announced Monday.
The champion Saints led all teams with five players selected either All-UMAC First Team or Honorable Mention. The other top awards went to Bethany Lutheran College as Sarah Presler was dubbed the Rookie of the Year and Matt Pearson of Martin Luther College was selected as Coach of the Year by his peers.
The Saints were challenged all season but managed to squeak out to conference title in the final series of the season to remain atop to the conference. Their success rested largely on the shoulders of Bremer who was a threat at the top of the Saints' lineup and was one of the top conference players in the field. In conference play, the senior led the UMAC in runs (24), hits (30) and at bats (59). She also ranked in the top three in average (.508), slugging (.780), on-base (.554), doubles (9), triples (2) and stolen bases (8-for-8). Defensively, Bremer turned five double plays from her short stop position and led the conference with 44 assists. She also tallied 26 put outs and a .909 fielding percentage.
Against conference opponents in the regular season, Bremer had nine games with two or more hits and seven games with two or more runs. She reached base safely and recorded a hit in all 16 conference games and scored in all but four games. Bremer also drew six walks and struck out just four times.
Bethany Lutheran has been on the surge over the last two seasons thanks to incoming talent that has led the Vikings to two-straight postseason appearances. This year, rookie Presler was among some of the top offensive players in the conference. In UMAC games, she averaged .442 at the plate and ranked in the top 10 for hits (23) and runs (15). She also had 52 at bats, boasted a .462 slugging mark and .453 on-base percentage. She also was 6-for-7 in stolen bases.
In his fourth season as head coach, Pearson was selected as Coach of the Year after leading Martin Luther to a solid finish in a wild spring season. After a short spring break trip, the Knights waited over a month before playing another game and starting conference play due to unexpected weather that brutalized the New Ulm area. Eventually, the Knights got rolling but started 2-7 before a pivotal win over St. Scholastica April 22. The Knights finished the season winning six of their final seven contests to place sixth in the standings at 8-8.
This year, Martin Luther earned key wins late in the season – following a win over St. Scholastica, the Knights swept Crown College on the road. The Knights were much improved and ranked in the top half in most offensive categories this season including third in runs (95) and RBI (83).
While the regular season champion Saints led with a total of five honorees on both teams, runner up University of Wisconsin-Superior topped the First Team list with four selections. Tournament champion University of Northwestern also totaled four selections between the two teams.
Anna Pipenhagen of Bethany Lutheran is the only player on the list to have been a All-UMAC First Team pick each of her four seasons including 2015 when she was the Rookie of the Year. Bremer was named Honorable Mention in 2015 and 2016 before earning back-to-back First Team honors in 2017 and 2018.
Amanda Roth of North Central University is the only player to have earned All-UMAC First Team honors three times in her career, while Cassidy Valenzuela of Crown has been named to one of the two teams three times in her career. Lis King of Crown and Mindy Forcier of Northwestern were both repeat First Team picks this season.
Six players on the the 2018 First Team and Honorable Mention lists have been named to one of the two teams twice in their careers including Toni Bishop (St. Scholastica), Autumn Mahoney (University of Minnesota Morris), Kayla Rosenbaum (Martin Luther), Cindi Rydlund (St. Schoalstica), Maggie Schley (St. Scholastica) and Katie White (Wisconsin-Superior).
Each year the UMAC recognizes the team sportsmanship award, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represented sportsmanship throughout the entire season. Northwestern earned the honor for the third-consecutive season. Each team also had one representative on the individual sportsmanship award list.
Player of the Year Award* – Alexa Bremer, Sr., St. Scholastica
Rookie of the Year Award# – Sarah Presler, Fy., Bethany Lutheran
Coach of the Year Award – Matt Pearson, Martin Luther
First-Team UMAC All-Conference
| Name |
Year |
School |
Position |
Hometown/High School |
| Alexa Bremer* |
Sr. |
St. Scholastica |
Short Stop |
Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake |
| Mindy Forcier |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Outfield |
Watkins, Minn./Eden Valley-Watkins |
| Gabby Gidley |
Jr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Catcher |
Superior, Wis./Superior |
| Macy Hanson |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Pitcher |
Grantsburg, Wis./Grantsburg |
| Lis King |
Jr. |
Crown |
Pitcher |
Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo |
| Lexi Kopacek |
Fy. |
Northwestern |
Pitcher |
Willmar, Minn./Willmar |
| Anna Pipenhagen |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Pitcher |
Elk River, Minn./Elk River |
| Sarah Presler# |
Fy. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Short Stop |
Brandon, S.D./Brandon Valley |
| Amanda Roth |
Sr. |
North Central |
Utility |
Appleton, Wis./Neenah |
| Cindi Rydlund |
Sr. |
St. Scholastica |
Outfield |
Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial |
| Maggie Schley |
Jr. |
St. Scholastica |
Utility |
Mounds View, Minn./Irondale |
| Audrey Timm |
Jr. |
Martin Luther |
Outfield |
Sparta, Wis./Luther |
| Alayna Tulip |
Fy. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Infield |
Arcadia, Wis./Arcadia |
| Cassidy Valenzuela |
Sr. |
Crown |
Outfield |
Anaheim, Calif./Katella |
| Katie White |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
First Base |
Pequot Lakes, Minn./Pequot Lakes |
UMAC All-Conference Honorable Mention
| Name |
Year |
School |
Position |
Hometown/High School |
| Eden Ambrose |
Fy. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Outfield |
Hugo, Minn./White Bear Lake |
| Toni Bishop |
So. |
St. Scholastica |
Catcher |
Roseville, Minn./Roseville |
| Olivia Christopherson |
Fy. |
Crown |
Pitcher |
New London, Minn./Nova Southeastern |
| Kayla Hannasch |
Fy. |
Northwestern |
Outfield |
Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North |
| Madison Harris |
Fy. |
St. Scholastica |
Second Base |
Billings, Mont./Billings West |
| Becca Holland |
So. |
Minnesota Morris |
Second Base |
Donnelly, Minn./Donnelly |
| Megan Knickerbocker |
Jr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Outfield |
Young America, Minn./Central |
| Kayla Madison |
Fy. |
Northwestern |
Shot Stop |
North Branch, Minn./Forest Lake |
| Autumn Mahoney |
Sr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Third Base |
Frazee, Minn./Frazee |
| Kayla Rosenbaum |
Jr. |
Martin Luther |
Third Base |
St. Joseph, Mich./Michigan Lutheran |
UMAC All-Defensive Team
| Name |
Year |
School |
Position |
Hometown/High School |
| Anna Pipenhagen |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Pitcher |
Elk River, Minn./Elk River |
| Gabby Gidley |
Jr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Catcher |
Superior, Wis./Superior |
| Katie White |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
First Base |
Pequot Lakes, Minn./Pequot Lakes |
| Madison Harris |
Fy. |
St. Scholastica |
Second Base |
Billings, Mont./Billings West |
| Autumn Mahoney |
Sr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Third Base |
Frazee, Minn./Frazee |
| Alexa Bremer |
Sr. |
St. Scholastica |
Short Stop |
Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake |
| Mindy Forcier |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Outfield |
Watkins, Minn./Eden Valley-Watkins |
| Cindi Rydlund |
Sr. |
St. Scholastica |
Outfield |
Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial |
| Audrey Timm |
Jr. |
Martin Luther |
Outfield |
Sparta, Wis./Luther |
| Maggie Schley |
Jr. |
St. Scholastica |
Utility |
Mounds View, Minn./Irondale |
UMAC Sportsmanship Awards
Team Award – Northwestern
Bethany Lutheran – Megan Westphal, So., North Mankato, Minn./Minnesota Valley Lutheran
Crown – Amanda Morrison, Sr., Columbia Falls, Mont./Columbia Falls
Martin Luther – Becky Pruss, So., North Fond du Lac, Wis./Winnebago Lutheran Academy
Minnesota Morris – Madison Langrehr, Jr., Bangor, Wis./Bangor
North Central – Kylee Bommersbach, Sr., Sartell, Minn./Sartell
Northland – Erin Bergen, Jr., McFarland, Wis.
Northwestern – Faith Forcier, So., Watkins, Minn./Eden Valley-Watkins
St. Scholastica – Josie Fourre, Fy., Albany, Minn./Albany
Wisconsin-Superior – Sarah Fjeran, So., Duluth, Minn./Marshall School