Here they go again.
Last season, Franklin College’s Katie Struewing and Olivia Paszek were among the Midwest’s top NCAA Division III softball players. Fortunately for the Grizzlies, Struewing and Paszek show no signs of slowing down this season.
Struewing, a Greenwood graduate, and Paszek, a Franklin Community graduate, recently were selected to the Louisville Slugger National Fastpitch Coaches Association honor roll. Both received the honor multiple times last season. But this time, they have company.
Megan Lalioff, an outfielder from Fishers, also received the national honor, marking the first time three Franklin College players were recognized in the same week.
Struewing is a senior infielder. She was honored for a recent stretch in which she batted .438 with three doubles, a triple, a home run and seven RBIs. She also scored five runs.
Paszek, a sophomore pitcher, was recognized after a pair of complete-game wins during which she tallied 15 strikeouts.
Lalioff, a junior outfielder, made the honor roll after going 10 for 16 at the plate during a four-game stretch for a .625 average. She also had five putouts and an assist in the outfield.
Lalioff has also been named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week.
Basketball honors
Katie Brewer, a senior forward from Roncalli High School, has been named first team All-HCAC. She was the only Franklin player on the first team.
Brewer led the HCAC with 51 blocked shots and was second in the league in rebounding at 8.6 per game. She was the Grizzlies’ second-leading scorer at 11.4 ppg.
Junior guard Lauren DeSutter was named second-team All-HCAC. She averaged a team-leading 11.9 ppg, shot 81.7 percent from the free-throw line and made 35.2 percent of her 3-point attempts.
Sophomore guard Kelsey Smith was selected to the HCAC All-Sportsmanship team. She led the Grizzlies with 61 assists, averaged 6.6 points per game and tallied 30 steals.
Franklin finished 19-8 overall and 14-4 in the HCAC. The Grizzlies tied for third in the final league standings and advanced to the semifinals of the HCAC Tournament.
On the men’s side, junior guard Aaron Mann was named second-team All-HCAC. He ranked second in the league in scoring (20.6 ppg) and was fourth in rebounding (7.0 rpg).
Mann shot 43.8 percent behind the 3-point arc and was an 87 percent shooter at the free-throw line.
Senior guard Trae Washington earned honorable mention honors after averaging 16.6 ppg and leading the HCAC with 122 assists. He scored a career-high 35 points in his final college game during a 93-77 win against Anderson.
Junior guard Trey Boles was named to the All-Sportsmanship team. A part-time starter, he made 46.9 percent of his 3-point attempts and shot 49.3 percent overall from the field.
Franklin finished with a 4-21 record but won three of its final four games. The Grizzlies were 4-14 in the HCAC.
Grizzlies pitcher recognized
Junior reliever Jacob McMain has been named the HCAC Pitcher of the Week.He had a win and a save as the Grizzlies went 2-2 last week. He did not allow a run in 4-2/3 innings of relief work.
