Four I70Sports Area Players Named All Staters by Illinois Softball Coaches Association

Four I70Sports area softball players are picking up some honors after their senior softball seasons as they were all named All-State honorees by the Illinois Softball Coaches Association. The 1A and 2A All-State teams were announced this weekend as past of this past weekend’s 1A and 2A State Tournaments. Altamont senior Grace Lemke has been named First Team All-State after a season that saw the pitcher collect an 18-9 record with 416 strikeouts in 172 innings pitched leading to a 0.57 ERA as only 14 of the 31 runs scored against her were earned. Mulberry Grove senior pitcher Lily Johnson and senior third baseman Taylor Stone were both named Second Team All-State. Johnson finished the season with a 12-8 record and recorded 171 strikeouts over 119.1 innings pitched while having a 2.17 ERA. Stone batted .567 this season with 28 RBI and 6 home runs while striking out just five times in 74 plate appearances while walking 13 times and had a fielding percentage of .830. Rounding out the area All-State honorees is the third Lady Ace to be recognized in senior catcher Jenni Mezo. Switching from her normal position of shortstop that she manned last year to take care of catching duties this year, Mezo hit .429 in the leadoff spot with a .556 on base percentage. She struck out just three times in 81 plate appearances and drew 18 walks and once on base, she grabbed 13 stolen bases.