Area Athletes are a hit in DIII Softball
This is the last of a 12 part series. Today I review the batting numbers of the 82 ladies who compete in NCAA DIII.
This may be the last segment in this series, but there is much more to come. Coming soon are listings of honors, awards, and high statistical finishes for 1,383 local athletes who are competing in NCAA Baseball and Softball. If you don’t have your free subscription, please click below.
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You can find the first parts of this series here:
Baseball Division III Pitching
Softball Division III Pitching
Of these 82 softball players, 63 got up to the plate. And as you will see these ladies can hit. They came from 64 high schools, matriculated at 31 colleges which are members of 19 conferences. These ladies can hit the ball. They can run the bases, too.
For statistics involving a ratio, I am looking at 50 or more at bats. All data is as of May 15.
Getting the most AB’s is Lilly Jones (Thomas W. Kelly/Fontbonne University) with 149 appearances. Not far behind are two freshmen, Ashley Carrow (Notre Dame-Cape Girardeau/Fontbonne University) and Kaley Adzick (Lafayette-Wildwood/Webster University), each with 136 AB’s.
It is clear that the underclassmen have been dominating at the plate. The top 12 batting averages are being produced by freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. Leading the way is sophomore Mia Boyd (Incarnate Word Academy/Greenville University) at .496. Next in line are freshman Kaley Adzick (Lafayette-Wildwood/Webster University) at .419, sophomore Haylee Chandler (Bowling Green/Westminster-MO) at .406, and junior Paige Thomas (Emporia/Webster University at .402. Freshmen hold 6 spots in the top 12 batting averages. The average for all 82 ladies is an impressive .292.
OPS is a statistic that combines the on base percentage with the slugging percentage. It is a good measure of consistency and power. There are 4 with an OPS greater than 1.000. They are Mia Boyd (Incarnate Word Academy/Greenville University) at 1.416, Paige Thomas (Emporia/Webster University) at 1.045, Cadence Dempsey (Fort Zumwalt South/Lake Forrest College) at 1.017, and Kaley Adzick (Lafayette-Wildwood/Webster University) at 1.010. Those are two freshmen, a sophomore, and a junior.
Traditionally, it has been largely thought that a batter would either hit for percentage or for power, but not for both. That is not true. Not at all. This is a very talented and productive group of hitters. But, one stands out regardless if you are looking for the long ball, or if you just need a single to move the runners along. Mia Boyd (Incarnate Word Academy/Greenville University) leads all DIII Softball hitters from these two states in batting average (.496), OPS (1.416), hits (57), home runs (9), on base percentage (.599), RBI (43), total bases (84), slugging percentage (.817), and walks (30). The second most walks is only 12. Those are all very high numbers. The second most in each of those categories is also high, and could lead this universe in years when Mia isn’t playing. Kaley Adzick (Lafayette-Wildwood/Webster University) has 57 hits, and has an on base percentage of .473. Paige Thomas (Emporia/Webster University) has 4 home runs, 40 RBI, 77 total bases, and a .606 slugging percentage. Cadence Dempsey (Fort Zumwalt South/Lake Forest College), like Mia also has 77 total bases. Madi Strichling (Northwest-Cedar Hill/Webster University), who also is a freshman, has the second most walks with 16.
Brooke Stefankiewicz (Salisbury/Huntingdon College) easily has the most stolen bases. She is a perfect 30 for 30 when attempting steals. Cadence Dempsey (Fort Zumwalt South/Lake Forest College) is also perfect at 12 for 12.
Before we move on to the detailed spreadsheet containing 22 statistical categories for all 82 athletics, please get your free subscription. If you read this far, then I am sure you will want to get more content!
Attached is the spreadsheet with the data, as of May 15, 2023. The data is listed in order of the most AB’s. Data for four athletes competing at Principia College were not available.
