T-R FILE PHOTO - East Marshall junior pitcher Peyton Grabenbauer delivers to the plate during the Mustangs’ game against Durant on Wednesday in the Class 2A state softball tournament at Fort Dodge. Grabenbauer was named all-NICL West Division first team for the third year in a row.

The East Marshall softball team placed five players on the all-North Iowa Cedar League West Division’s first team in a vote of the conference’s coaches.

Grundy Center, which won its first outright NICL West title since 1989, had three first-team honorees, and Andy Lebo was voted the conference’s Coach of the Year.

East Marshall’s honor roll of first-team selections starts with a pair of unanimous selections in junior pitcher Peyton Grabenbauer and sophomore third baseman Ashtyn Wheater. Senior catcher Bailey Grant, senior second baseman Delaney Ryan and eighth-grade outfielder Gianna Boswell also received first-team honors.

Grabenbauer led the conference in a number of statistical categories: batting average (.556), doubles (4), runs batted in (12), on-base percentage (.625), slugging percentage (.889), pitching wins (6), saves (1), innings pitched (49 1/3) and strikeouts (54). She was voted first team for the third year in a row.

Wheater and Ryan both received their first all-conference honors. Wheater batted .536 in division play with one double, one home run and 10 RBIs. Ryan hit .500 with three doubles and 10 RBIs. Boswell batted leadoff for the Mustangs and hit .433 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and nine RBIs. She added a team-high five stolen bases.

Grant was named all-NICL West first team for the fourth year in a row, batting .379 with four doubles, two home runs and nine RBIs. She also had no errors defensively and threw out the only attempted base-stealer against her.

All three of Grundy Center’s first-team honorees are underclassmen, including eighth-grade pitcher Macey Kiewiet. She was a unanimous selection after going 6-1 in the circle with a league-leading 0.19 earned run average and 52 strikeouts in 36 innings pitched. Opposing batters hit just .172 against her. Offensively, Kiewiet batted .429 with three doubles and six RBIs.

Spartan sophomores Maddy Hendershot and Ava Heeren returned to the all-conference list. Hendershot, picked as a utility player, was a two-time second-team selection, while Heeren, an outfielder, repeats as a first-team pick. Hendershot hit .438 with three doubles and seven RBIs while also going 2-0 in the circle with a 2.67 ERA in 21 innings pitched. Heeren hit .423 with two doubles, one triple, one home run and 10 RBIs.

AGWSR senior shortstop Trevyn Smith was voted as the all-NICL West’s Player of the Year after hitting .467 with four doubles and six RBIs. She stole four bases and had an .884 fielding percentage. She’s the Cougars’ first Player of the Year recipient since Makenna Kuper in 2021.

East Marshall had a trio of second-team selections in senior shortstop Makayla Hala, senior outfielder Vaeda Bryan and sophomore outfielder Libby Atcher. Grundy Center had three second-team picks in senior catcher Kyndra Dieken, junior second baseman Lauren Zajac and sophomore third baseman Camdyn Aronson.

The Spartans picked two honorable mentions in junior Allison Koch and sophomore Evelyn Geerdes, while East Marshall eighth-grader Miyah Grabenbauer was also honored.

All-NICL West Division Softball Teams

Player of the Year — Trevyn Smith, sr., AGWSR

Coach of the Year — Andy Lebo, Grundy Center

FIRST TEAM

(* unanimous selection)

*Macey Kiewiet, 8th, P, Grundy Center

*Peyton Grabenbauer, jr., P, East Marshall

Bailey Grant, sr., C, East Marshall

Cali Buseman, jr., 1B, AGWSR

Lucy Anderson, so., 1B, South Hardin

Delaney Ryan, sr., 2B, East Marshall

*Trevyn Smith, sr., SS, AGWSR

*Ashtyn Wheater, so., 3B, East Marshall

Ella Diemer, sr., OF, AGWSR

Gianna Boswell, 8th, OF, East Marshall

Ava Heeren, so., OF, Grundy Center

*Maddy Hendershot, so., UT, Grundy Center

Charlee Rosonke, so., UT, South Hardin

SECOND TEAM

Brylea Metzger, jr., P, AGWSR

Kyndra Dieken, sr., C, Grundy Center

Lila Holmgaard, fr., 2B, AGWSR

Lauren Zajac, jr., 2B, Grundy Center

Makayla Hala, sr., SS, East Marshall

Camdyn Aronson, so., 3B, Grundy Center

Alli Sheldahl, sr., OF, South Hardin

Vaeda Bryan, sr., OF, East Marshall

Libby Atcher, so., OF, East Marshall

Claire Culver, jr., UT, AGWSR

Brylie Henze, so., UT, AGWSR

HONORABLE MENTION

EAST MARSHALL — Miyah Grabenbauer, 8th.

GRUNDY CENTER — Evelyn Geerdes, so.; Allison Koch, jr.

SOUTH HARDIN — Grace Eller, sr.; Alyssa Kix, sr.

Final Conference Standings

Grundy Center 8-1

East Marshall 7-2

AGWSR 3-6

South Hardin 0-9