Cardinals land four on TIC All-Conference lists

The Garner-Hayfield-Ventura softball team had four girls named to a Top of Iowa All-Conference team.  Jayden Hughes was named to the Second Team, while Megan Oetken and Trinity Smith earned Third Team honors.  Jillian Heitland earned Honorable Mention.

Hughes, a junior, played shortstop for the Cardinals.  She led the team in runs scored with 20, had a team high 13 stolen bases and team high .377 batting average.

“Jayden did an excellent job being a leader on the field,” said Coach Kaitlin Murphy.

Oetken, a junior, earned the Third Team honor for work at the plate.  In conference play, she led the team with six doubles, 19 RBIs and had a .536 slugging percentage.  She finished conference play with a .375 batting average.

“Megan kept our pitchers in sync and she has a great softball IQ, which makes her physical play that much better,” said Murphy.

Smith, also a junior, was the team’s leadoff batter and played center field.  She finished conference play with a .340 batting average and she scored 15 runs with an on-base percentage of .484.

“Any ball hit in her direction, we knew she would come up with it,” said Murphy.  “She did a fantastic job for us in the field.”

Heitland was the lone senior on the team this season.  She played left field for the GHV.  She scored 15 runs in conference play and led the team with three triples and had a batting average of .298.

“Jillian was one of our leaders this year.  She used her prior experience to read batters and always knew what to do with the ball in big situations,” said Murphy.

The Cardinals ended the season with a conference record of 6-11 and an overall record of 6-18.