UMAC Softball Postseason Awards
St. Paul, MN - The 2023 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) softball season came to a close over the weekend, Bethany Lutheran won the regular season title while the University of Wisconsin-Superior won the UMAC tournament title and clinched their spot in the NCAA Tournament.
As far as postseason awards are concerned, Player of the Year goes to Maria Lilienthal of Crown College after she had a monster 2023 season, Lilienthal hit .461 with four home runs and thirty-seven runs batted in for the Polars this season. Regular season champion Bethany Lutheran took home three of the four major awards with Kayla Senne being named Pitcher of the Year, Emily Doyle being selected as Rookie of the Year, and head coach Dan Nessler was named Coach of the Year.
The Vikings also were well represented on the UMAC First Team All-Conference, Honorable Mention, and All-Defensive Team lists. Overall, the Vikings had nine selections on the three different all-UMAC teams. Pitcher of the Year Kayla Senne was named to the first team along with Katelyn Halbach, Rookie of the Year Emily Doyle who was also named to the All-Defensive Team, and Kaija Mork. On the Honorable Mention team was Ana Christofferson, who was also named to the All-Defensive Team and Brynja Mielke, Elizabeth Clark was also named to the All-Defensive Team for Bethany Lutheran.
UMAC Tournament champion UW-Superior had a conference best ten selections to the three different all-UMAC teams. Named UMAC First Team All-Conference was Zoe Thomson, Larissa Snyder, and Tayler Kraemer who was named UMAC Tournament MVP after pitching back to back shutouts on Sunday to help the Yellowjackets win the UMAC Tournament title, Kraemer was also named to the All-Defensive Team. On the UMAC Honorable Mention team was MyKenzie Leccia who is also on the All-Defensive Team, and Ellie Macal who was also selected for the All-Defensive Team. Cassie Bergman and Bryton Kukowski also earned spots on the All-Defensive Team, overall, the Yellowjackets had five players named to the UMAC All-Defensive Team after leading the league in fielding percentage (.967) and committing the fewest errors in the conference (41).
The Northwestern Eagles, who finished in third place this season in conference play, had eight selections on the three all-UMAC teams. On the First Team was Megan Lundt and Jadyn Iverson who was also named to the All-Defensive Team. Allison Terry, Mikayla Gee, Kate Beer, and Sydney Lane were all named Honorable Mentions while Beer was also named to the All-Defensive Team for the Eagles.
For Crown College, who qualified as the number four seed in this year's UMAC Tournament, Player of the Year Maria Lilienthal was named to the UMAC First Team-All Conference list while Madi Hecox was named Honorable Mention.
Martin Luther was the only other school with two names or more on the First Team All-Conference list with Jordyn Heckendorf and Lisa Hoffer both being named to the first team. Heckendorf was also named to the All-Defensive Team.
The Minnesota Morris Cougars had two selections this season, Mary Landherr was named First Team All-Conference and Tori Nichols was named an Honorable Mention.
Northland, and North Central had one First Team All-Conference selection each in Kaylee Harnack, and Delaney Riddle respectively.
North Central won the team sportsmanship award, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represents sportsmanship throughout the entire season. Each team also had one representative named to the individual sportsmanship award list.
Player of the Year: Maria Lilienthal, Crown College
Pitcher of the Year: Kayla Senne, Bethany Lutheran
Rookie of the Year: Emily Doyle, Bethany Lutheran
Coach of the Year: Dan Nessler, Bethany Lutheran
Team Sportsmanship Award: North Central
UMAC First Team All-Conference
| Name |
Year |
School |
Hometown |
| Emily Doyle |
Fr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Winnipeg, Canada |
| Katelyn Halbach |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Osage, IA |
| Kaylee Harnack |
Sr. |
Northland |
Crystal, MN |
| Jordyn Heckendorf |
Jr. |
Martin Luther |
Kewaskum, WI |
| Lisa Hoffer |
Sr. |
Martin Luther |
Plymouth, MN |
| Jadyn Iverson |
So. |
Northwestern |
West Fargo, ND |
| Tayler Kraemer |
Jr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Spring Green, WI |
| Mary Landherr |
Fr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Wyoming, MN |
| Maria Lilienthal |
So. |
Crown |
Pendleton, OR |
| Megan Lundt |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Altoona, IA |
| Kaija Mork |
So. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Sioux Falls, SD |
| Delaney Riddle |
So. |
North Central |
Lake Stevens, WA |
| Kayla Senne |
So. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Northwood, IA |
| Larissa Snyder |
Fr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Blaine, MN |
| Zoe Thomson |
So. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Le Sueur, MN |
UMAC Honorable Mention Team
| Name |
Year |
School |
Hometown |
| Kate Beer |
So. |
Northwestern |
Prior Lake, MN |
| Ana Christofferson |
Jr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Mankato, MN |
| Mikayle Gee |
So. |
Northwestern |
Rochester, MN |
| Madi Hecox |
Grad. |
Crown |
Rockford, IL |
| Syney Lane |
So. |
Northwestern |
Altoona, IA |
| MyKenzie Leccia |
Fr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Somerset, WI |
| Ellie Macal |
So. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Winona, MN |
| Brynja Mielke |
Jr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Sleepy Eye, MN |
| Tori Nichols |
Jr. |
Minnesota Morris |
West Fargo, ND |
| Allison Terry |
Fr. |
Northwestern |
Blaine, MN |
UMAC All-Defensive Team
| Name (Position) |
Year |
School |
Hometown |
| Ellie Macal (C) |
So. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Winona, MN |
| Tayler Kraemer (P) |
Jr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Spring Green, WI |
| Jadyn Iverson (1B) |
So. |
Northwestern |
West Fargo, ND |
| Cassie Bergman (2B) |
Fr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Duluth, MN |
| Ana Christofferson (SS) |
Jr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Mankato, MN |
| Emily Doyle (3B) |
Fr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Winnipeg, Canada |
| Bryton Kukowski (3B) |
Jr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Duluth, MN |
| Jordyn Heckendorf (OF) |
Jr. |
Martin Luther |
Kewaskum, WI |
| MyKenzie Leccia (OF) |
Fr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Somerset, WI |
| Kate Beer (OF) |
So. |
Northwestern |
Prior Lake, MN |
| Elizabeth Cizek (UTIL) |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Wheaton, IL |
Individual Sportsmanship Awards
BLC – Sierra Brown
CC – Aletheia Fisher
MLC – Anna Busch
NCU – Maci Tripp
NC – Janna Bode
UMM – Brenna Mahoney
UNW – Lindsey Dvorak
UWS – Camille Wikstrom