Faber and Kopriva earn North Central Conference softball recognition

Clear Lake’s Rea Faber was named to the First Team and Rachel Kopriva received Third Team recognition in North Central Conference balloting announced this week.
    Faber, a senior, was an All-NCC First Team selection as a outfielder; Kopriva was an infielder for the Lions.
    Clear Lake Coach Nicki Petersburg said Faber was a threat on offense and defense.

    “Rea was consistently a threat to get on base.  She could hit for power (three doubles, four triples, and two home runs) or easily bunt for a hit,” said the coach.  “She also had great success beating out infield hits for singles.  Her speed was then a great asset on the bases, often stealing consecutive pitches from first to third as soon as she got on.  This is a move I would generally not do, but given Rea’s speed it was more than likely that she would get around safe.”
    Faber  ended the season with 30 stolen bases and a batting average of .421.

    “She was a leader in the outfield as well, routinely taking away base hits and creating outs with her good arm.  Rea truly stepped-up to be a leader both in action and in words,” added Petersburg.
    The coach said Kopriva, also a senior, was the player which inspired Coach Kiefer and she the most.  “In years past we DH’ed (designated hitter) for her, as her bat was very inconsistent.  This year she was our number four hitter because she always battled at the plate and often came away with not just a hit, but also an RBI,” said Petersburg.  “Defensively, Rachel has never played third base, but out of necessity we put her there to see how it would go.  Who knew she would be such an animal over there?  Rachel’s reflexes and reactions are much quicker than we, as coaches, or Rachel herself anticipated.  Throughout the year umpires and opposing coaches commented on her outstanding ability at third.  She was definitely a pillar of the team this year”

Year-end team awards
    Coach Petersburg and her softball program staff wrapped up the 2011 season by announcing team awards.
    In her year-end review, Petersburg paid tribute to her four seniors: Rea Faber, Rachel Kopriva, Emma Schiller and Taylor Diehl.  Comments about Faber and Kopriva appear in the All-NCC story above.  Here are the coaches’ comments about Schiller and Diehl’s contributions to the Lions team:
    “Emma Schiller came on strong as a hitter and was consistently a tough out.  Emma played a lot of spring softball and her presence at the plate was the proof.  Many times Emma had the key hit that either got us on the board or kept us alive in the game.  She led the team in RBIs with 28, had six doubles, and batted .389.  Defensively, at short-stop, she was slower to come around, but by the end of the year she was making outstanding plays taking away hits in the gap in either direction.  She also threw a few girls out at first from her knees.  Coach Kiefer and I are very proud of the way she battled to make herself better throughout the year.
     “Taylor Diehl, our starting pitcher, was our strongest leader, often by her integrity on the mound.  Taylor refused to quit and often came on stronger at the end of the game than the beginning, no matter how few or how many hits the opposing team had.  Whether pitchers and catchers will admit it or not, they are looked at routinely by the rest of the team and with Taylor staying strong even when it was tough, she -Read More Via e-Edition