Two Mount Mercy Academy softball players, Emma Caughel (Hamburg) and Emma Labby (Lakeview), earned All-Catholic honors in softball this season. Both players are freshmen.
Caughel was the team’s starting pitcher, starting all 12 games this season. It was a difficult season for the Magic with only one experienced player, but Caughel never gave up or hung her head, no matter what was happening while she was pitching. In addition to her pitching, she had the team’s highest batting average, with a .414 average and had the second highest on-base percentage at .500. She led the team in slugging percentage at .639, had the most RBIs with 11 and had 12 hits, including two doubles and three triples. She added six stolen bases. She struck out 46 batters this season and was selected as the team’s Most Valuable Player.
Labby was the team’s starting catcher and caught every single inning this season. She made many smart plays behind the plate and picked off five baserunners this season. She had the team’s second highest fielding average at .909 and was second in runs scored with 11. She struggled at the plate but in the last two games she broke out with the team’s only hit in one game and a triple in her last at bat. She was given the Coach’s Award for her effort, attitude and team spirit.
“Both players persevered through very tough games. The two of them really came together near the end of the season to develop plays to try and get some of the opposing team’s baserunners out when they weren’t expecting it. They taught some of the newer girls where to be and how to run the plays and we appreciated their leadership and initiative in doing so,” Coach Shannon Feind commented.
