ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Valley Conference announced Wednesday morning that four Illinois State softball players have received postseason accolades for their performances during the 2019 Valley slate.
Senior Shannon Felde earned her second career All-MVC First Team selection, while senior captain Allison Spence, junior outfielder Alyssa Wiebel and sophomore right-handed pitcher Morgan Day were given second-team all-conference laurels. Additionally, Spence was placed on the MVC All-Defensive Team.
Felde's selection marks the 26th-consecutive season that an Illinois State Redbird has been given a spot on the All-MVC First Team – dating back to the 1994 season – while it is the 11th-straight year that at least one Redbird has been placed on the second team.
"Shannon has been an instrumental part of our program this season," head coach Melinda Fischer commented. "Her versatility is beyond anything that I can remember in our program for quite some time. Being able to play any position we need her to, as well as leading us off in the batting order, is a tremendous credit to her and her abilities."
Felde finished the conference slate in the top-10 in the Valley in stolen bases (6), on-base percentage (.494) and batting average (.397), respectively. She has proven to be one of the toughest batters to strikeout, only being sat down four times in conference play. Felde has reached base safely in 27 of the last 30 games, while tallying at least one hit in eight of ISU's last 10 contests. The senior has scored a team-high 18 runs to go with 13 RBI, 12 walks and three doubles during MVC competition, and is one of just two Redbirds to start all 49 games this season.
Spence's all-conference nod marks the third career honor for the Redbird, as she was placed on the first team in 2017 and second team in 2018. During league play, the senior finished in the top-five in batting average (.422) and RBIs (27), while finishing in the top-10 in slugging percentage (.656) and on-base percentage (.486). She's turned in a team-best 11 multiple RBI games this season and ranks second on the team in hits (46) and total bases (65).
"Allison has just had a tremendous career for us," Fischer said. "To me, this recognition encompasses everything leadership wise that Allison is about. She's a tough kid – recovering quickly from an injury – just to get back on the field for her team. Allison has batted clean-up in our lineup for most of the season, and I think that she's a person that everyone looks up to and learns from, probably more than she'll ever know."
Additionally, Spence was named to the MVC All-Defensive Team, as she broke the ISU career putout record of 1,291 against Bradley on April 10. In the league, the first baseman ranks first in fielding double plays (9) and in the top-10 in putouts (289) for the season.
"From a defensive standpoint, she was the leader of our infield with such a young group," added Fischer. "She never wavered from what she was capable of doing and that really helped us defensively this season."
For the second-straight year, Wiebel earned a spot on the league's all-conference second team in her second season playing the center field position. In MVC play Wiebel ranks second on the team in total bases (40), while sitting fourth in batting average (.368). Four of her team-leading six home runs on the season have come during the Valley slate, as her two additional home runs were grand slams during nonconference competition. Wiebel ranks third on the team in multiple hit games (9) and multiple RBI games (7), while ranking second in stolen bases.
"To be selected as an all-conference performer in the outfield for the second-straight year in such a competitive group is a great honor," Fischer shared. "This recognition for Alyssa displays her consistency throughout most of the conference season."
Day's All-MVC Second Team selection marks the first career postseason honor for the right-handed pitcher. The sophomore ranks third in the Valley in strikeouts (82) during league play, including the second-most batters struck out looking at 21 behind only the MVC's Pitcher of the Year. Overall, Day leads the Redbirds in the circle with a 3.13 ERA, tossing 11 complete games – including five shutouts – hurling 139 strikeouts in 143.1 innings of work.
"This is a great honor for Morgan and she is very deserving of it," commented Fischer. "She came on strong towards the end of her freshman year and battled some up and down performances at the beginning of this year, before finally finding a little bit of a niche in the conference this season. I think this is a bright spot for Morgan and also a bright spot for our future as a program moving forward."
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
Illinois State has drawn the six seed at the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Championship, hosted by Bradley, and will face the winner of No. 7 Evansville / No. 10 Valparaiso on Thursday, May 9, at 1:30 p.m. For more information on the postseason tournament, please visit the league's championship central page.
For updates on Illinois State Softball, follow the Redbirds on Twitter (@RedbirdsSB) and Instagram (@redbirdsoftball).
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
