The wintry weather may have shortened the Moraine Valley Community College softball season, but it couldn’t stop the Cyclones from playing over .500 ball with a finish in the NJCAA Region IV semi-finals.
Moraine Valley capped a successful year with a 22-17 overall record and 8-4 Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference record that landed them in second place. They lost both games in the semi-finals on May 2 but otherwise dominated several teams and had a nine-game win streak—a testament to their team dynamics.
Several players had standout performances. Carly Trinley (Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences) intimidated other teams with her off-the-chart batting. She averaged .545 with an .841 slugging percentage in conference, leading to her Skyway Conference Player of the Year designation. She also landed on the All-Conference first team along with teammates Amie Raynor (Sandburg) and Jenny Vanek (Mother McAuley). Raynor was named to the All-Region IV first team thanks in part to her solid pitching all season and overall .397 batting average (.450 in conference). Not only did Vanek average .295 at the plate (.356 in conference), but she was a wall at shortstop, being a defense anchor for the team. Ari Bulthius (Mother McAuley) and Dana Cummings (Richards) rounded out the awards with nods to the All-Conference second team. Bulthius contributed to the pitching rotation and continued her impressive hitting from last season with an overall .382 average (.357 in conference).
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“This is one of the most fun teams I’ve had in my coaching career. I wish this was a four-year institution. I didn’t want to see the season end,” said head coach Mike Veen. “We were lucky we got in the number of games we did. Not only that, but there is real talent on the team. It’s hard to see the sophomores go.”
Sophomore Vanek intends to continue playing ball at North Central College while Raynor is set for Aurora University. Trinley is expected to return next season, and Veen has some recruits in mind to further develop his squad.
