Elmwood's Garcia, Reynolds earn top BVC honors

Elmwood's first year as a member of the Blanchard Valley Conference was a successful one when it came to softball, and earned Mariela Garcia and Emily Reynolds top awards in the balloting for all-league honors.Reynolds, in her second season as Elmwood head coach, guided the Royals to an 8-0 run through the BVC. Garcia headlined a potent offense that averaged 13.1 runs a game in BVC matchups. She carried a .364 batting average with eight triples, four home runs, 31 runs-batted-in and 30 runs scored. The senior shortstop also stole 18 bases.Three of Garcia's teammates joined her on the all-BVC first team: Trinity Sander (.456, 13 RBI, 31 runs), Dakota Rader-King (.382, 2 HR, 21 RBI) and Leah Allison (.438, 1 HR, 24 RBI).BVC runner-up Liberty-Benton (19-5 7-1 BVC) had three players make first-team all-BVC, including pitcher Reagan Knapke, who was 19-4 with a 2.281 ERA, 150 strikeosuts in 135 innings, along with a .373 batting average and 16 RBI, and Kaytlin Erdeljac, who hit .432, drove in 29 runs and scored 27.L-B's Lauren Gerken made it a senior-season sweep of all-league honors. The BVC Player of the Year in both volleyball and basketball, the BGSU recruit added first0-team all-BVC honors in softball after batting .450 with 11 doubles, 27 RBI and 22 runs scored,Van Buren finished third (14-10, 6-2 BVC) in the standings and had two first-team all-leaguers in Megan Stall and Anna Durliat. Stall was 11-8 as a pitcher with a 2.866 ERA and 99 strikeouts, while also batting .384 and driving in 31 runs. Durliat hit .403, drove in 22 runs scored 25 and had 13 stolen bases.Also earning first-team all-BVC honors were Arcadia's Jordyn Tong and McComb's Hannah Sherrick.Tong was one of the top pitchers in the league with a 2.15 ERA and 140 strikeouts. She was also one of the BVC's top hitters with a .479 average and a league-leading 10 home runs.Sherrick boasted a .552 batting average that included three triples and three homes runs. She drove in 28 runs, scored 26 and stole 13 bases.Also earning first-team all-BVC honors were Riverdale's Addie Farmer and Miranda Miller and Arlington's Leah Durliat. Stats for those players were not available.Players on the all-BVC second team included Vanlue's Mara Simon and Olivia Secord. Van Buren's Jaxon Hill and Bailey Lance, Arcadia's Addy Colman, Arlington's Ellie Marquart, Liberty-Benton's Kylie Steinman, Elmwood's Tianna Galbraith, Pandora-Gilboa's Lexi Wentz and Riverdale's Kenzie Furr. ALL-BVC SOFTBALLFIRST TEAMELMWOOD – Mariela Garcia, Leah Allison, Trinity Sandler, Dakota Rader-King. ARCADIA –.Jordyn Tong. ARLINGTON – Leah Durliat. LIBERTY-BENTON – Kaytlin Erdeljac, Lauren Gerken, Reagan Knapke. McCOMB –. Hannah Sherrick. RIVERDALE – Addie Farmer, Miranda Miller. VAN BUREN – Megan Stall, Anna Durliat.PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Mariela Garcia, Elmwood.COACH OF THE YEAR: Emily Reynolds, Elmwood SECOND TEAMARCADIA –.Addy Colman. ARLINGTON – Ellie Marquart. ELMWOOD –.Tianna Galbraith. LIBERTY-BENTON – Kylie Steinman. PANDORA-GILBOA – Lexi Wentz. RIVERDALE – Kenzie Furr. VAN BUREN – Jaxon Hill, Bailey Lance. VANLUE – Mara Simon, Olivia Secord. HONORABLE MENTIONARCADIA – Alexis Carter, Kateland Keefe. ARLINGTON – Hailey Siford, Dala Taulbee. ELMWOOD – Addi Hoffman, Allyie Reynolds. LIBERTY-BENTON – Hayden Gillig, Kylie Modd. McCOMB –. Chloe McCullough, Grace Hassan.PANDORA-GILBOA – Makayla Suter, Ava Huffman. RIVERDALE – Addi Manns, Carly Karcher. VAN BUREN – Jordan Patton, Ashlee Deitrick. VANLUE – Alexa Brooks, Adrienne Phillips.