Four Wildcats Selected to NFCA All-Region Team

After making its second straight NAIA appearance, the Baker softball team had four players named to the NFCA All-Region V Team as the organization announced its postseason awards on Friday.

Those student-athletes included Kira Baker, Savannah Bray, Mary Grace Hess and Madi Ball with Baker being named to the first team, while Bray, Hess and Ball earned second team honors.

It marks the second straight first-team selection for Baker, a sophomore from Eudora, Kan., after going 18-5 with an incredible 0.97 ERA and 203 strikeouts in her 151.2 innings pitched this year. She tossed 18 complete games and recorded eight shutouts, while finishing the regular season by allowing just two runs in her final seven appearances. She notched her 500th career strikeout in the Wildcats' postseason victory over Friends in the first game of the NAIA Opening Round.

Joining her ace pitcher as the other returning All-Region honoree for BU, Bray led the Wildcats in slugging (.653), home runs (10), walks (17) and games played (50) after playing in all 50 games this season. The senior slugger from Olathe, Kan. became the program's career home run leader with 24 homers in her four-year career, surpassing Riley Swickard (2017-2020) who hit 20 home runs during her time at BU.

After being named to the All-Heart First Team, Hess landed on the second team of the All-Region team as she finished as the team-leader in hits (54), batting average (.378), runs scored (37) and RBI (40). The senior from Burlington, Kan. hit .415 during the regular season and closed out the spring with a hit in 14 of her last 15 regular-season games, including a blistering six-game stretch where she went 15-for-20 with 11 RBI.

In her first year as a Wildcat, Ball, a freshman from Blue Springs, Mo., slugged .568 and matched Bray with a team-leading 13 doubles, while adding three triples and two home runs. She tallied a season-high five RBI with a home run and a double against Concordia in the second non-conference tournament of the season and put up a three-hit game against top-seed USAO in the NAIA Opening Round.

BU finished off another terrific spring with a 34-15 overall record, winning 30 or more games for the second straight season and earning back-to-back NAIA appearances for the second time in program history.

The Wildcats went 17-7 in conference play and closed out the regular season by winning nine of their last 10 games to earn the No. 2 seed for the Heart Softball Conference Tournament.

To the view full list of honorees, please click here.

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