By ISU Sports Information
NORMAL – Highlighted by Jordan de los Reyes’ Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year accolade, the Illinois State softball team collected eight All-Conference honors at the league’s 2017 softball awards banquet on Wednesday night at the Hancock Stadium Club.
De los Reyes garnered the prestigious MVC Player of the Year award in addition to first-team and all-defensive team honors. Allison Spence, Sarah Finck, Shannon Felde and Riley Hale collected first-team all-conference honors. Annie Heineman rounded out the group with second-team honors, totaling eight for the Redbirds, which is the third-most MVC awards in program history
De los Reyes, a catcher from Moline, Illinois, broke seven Illinois State and one MVC record during the 2017 season while being named the league’s player of the week three times. The senior currently ranks top-10 nationally in home runs per game, home runs, RBIs, RBIs per game, slugging percentage and total bases. She leads the team in hits (63), RBIs (67), home runs (19), slugging percentage (.889) and batting average (.412) while also leading the MVC in slugging percentage, RBIs, home runs and total bases. De los Reyes logged 17 multi-hit games and 20 multi-RBI games, including four games with five RBI. The catcher totaled 144 outs and 27 assists from behind the plate, including nine caught stealing and two pickoffs.
Spence, a first baseman from Beecher, Illinois, leads both the Redbirds and the MVC in putouts with 446 at first base, ranking second in the Illinois State single-season records. The MVC Scholar Athlete of the Week leads the team with 15 doubles and has the Redbirds’ second-best slugging percentage of .588. The sophomore owns the sixth-best batting average and slugging percentage in the MVC, leading the Redbirds with 19 multi-hit games.
Finck, a pitcher from East Peoria, Illinois, ranks 29th nationally with 21 wins on the season, holding a 2.31 ERA. The MVC Pitcher of the Week went 14-3 in the Missouri Valley season, holding her opponents to a .254 average throughout the season. Finck pitched 22 complete games with three shutouts, including two one-hitters at Drake and at Evansville. The ace struck out a single-game high of seven at Western Kentucky at the Hilltopper Spring Fling.
Felde, a designated player from Schaumburg, Illinois, logged a 21-game hitting streak that ranks as the second longest known streak in the ISU record book. The MVC Player of the Week also reached base in 23 consecutive games. Felde ranks second on the team and fourth in the MVC with a .391 average while also being one of three players nationally with only one strikeout. With 15 multi-hit games, the utility player recorded her first career home run at Indiana State while tallying six doubles, two home runs and a triple, and slugging .500.
Hale, an outfielder from West Burlington, Iowa, leads the team and the Valley in runs scored (43), on-base percentage (.484) and walks (29). The Redbirds’ leadoff hitter bats .439 with a team-best .484 on-base percentage. Hale owns a 24-game on-base streak that ranks as the fourth-longest known streak in the ISU record book (March 25-present). With the Redbirds’ third-best slugging percentage, the outfielder has 16 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games.
Heineman, an outfielder from Normal, Illinois, leads the outfielders with 35 putouts in center. The senior owns 36 hits, recording an 11-game reached-base streak. Heineman logged six multi-hit games, including two three-hit games. The outfielder tallied four multi-RBI games against MVC opponents, Indiana State, Wichita State, Loyola and Drake.
