The News All-Area baseball and softball teams feature the area’s top players from Mid-Prairie, Highland, Iowa Mennonite School and Lone Tree. 

Players were selected on achievement and how vital players were to their team during the course of the season. 

Leading off the pitching staff is a repeat from last year’s All-Area team in Lone Tree’s Abby Buckman and Highland’s Megan Hoenig. 

Buckman struck out 157 batters this year in 517 faced. She pitched 117 innings and went 7-12 in 18 starts and 21 total appearances with an ERA of 2.64. 

Hoenig, a Highland senior, was 16-5 this season and struck out 106 batters this year. She had an ERA of 1.87. She gave up just 34 earned runs in 127 innings of work. 

The All-Area catcher is Highland freshman Mackinze Hora. Hora was a wall for the Huskies, making just one error in 137 fielding opportunities. She took advantage of a last year’s experience to become one of the top catchers in the SEISC North. At the plate Hora  hit .268 and drove in eight runs. 

In the outfield, Mid-Prairie added two to the team in Rylee Vercande and Jaselyn Robertson. 

Vercande hit .299 this season, totalling 32 hits. She drove in 13 runs and hit three home runs. 

Robertson became one of Mid-Prairie’s most reliable hitters by the end of the season including 9-16 over Mid-Prairie’s final five games. She hit .253 this season.

Dani Laughlin, who will be a freshman at Highland this fall, hit .468 and had an on-base percentage over .500. She was the only player in the SEISC North to steal 20 bases this season. 

Arlie Lorack had the top batting average in the SEISC North at .516. The Lone Tree freshman was a reliable hitter for a Lady Lions team that sometimes struggled to score runs. 

Lorack drove in 15 runs and had eight extra-base hits. 

The infield includes Highland seniors Abbie Miller and Aly Stokes, Iowa Mennonite’s Suzanna Yoder and Mid-Prairie’s Georgia Nisly. 

Stokes and Miller will be missed by the Huskies as they have started nearly their entire high school careers. 

Miller was fifth in Class 2A in RBIs with 47 and had 13 extra-base hits this season. Her slugging percentage of .728 was second in the SEISC North. 

Stokes faced 94 fielding opportunities at short stop and handled them at a clip of 93.6 percent. She also hit .247 this year and stole 18 bases. 

Suzanna Yoder was the top hitter for Iowa Mennonite, driving in 11 runs and hitting .373. She led the team in triples and home runs while also stealing 14 bases. She also had a fielding percentage above 90. 

Mid-Prairie first baseman Georgia Nisly rounds out the infield. 

She had a team-high .975 fielding percentage and was a wall for Mid-Prairie at first base. At the plate, she hit .295 and drove in 14 runs on 31 hits. She also drew 11 walks. 

Utility players for this year’s team include Cassidy Rourke, Emily Yahnke and Rubye Ney.

Rourke, who started at pitcher and in the outfield for Mid-Prairie. Her bat especially took off this season and she was able to hit eight home runs and had a .303 average this year. 

Yahnke was the designated hitter all season for Highland and hit just above .400. She drove in 14 runs and drew 15 walks. The sprinter was 17-21 on stolen bases this year. 

Ney started the year in the outfield, handling center field duties for the first half of the year. She then transitioned to catcher and helped keep runners held on the base paths. 

Ney hit .345 in her senior season, drove in 10 runs and had four doubles. 

Honorable mention selections includ Mid-Prairie shortstop Karsen Jehle, Mid-Prairie’s Kylee Kos, Highland’s Sarah Schneider, Lone Tree’s Lily Miller and Highland’s Jenna Sands. 

Miller hit .403 this season and drove in a team-high 17 runs for Lone Tree. 

Jehle was a strong defensive player with 62 put outs and 61 assists this season at shortstop.

Kos, a Mid-Prairie senior, hit four home runs and had a .224 batting average this season.