Submitted photo
Receiving individual awards for Trinity Lutheran softball were Kamzi Gross, Amanda Finke, Ally Russell, Olivia Cain and Bailey Tabeling.
Submitted photo
By Dylan Wallace | The Tribune
The Trinity Lutheran softball gathered at head coach Bob Tabeling’s house on Sunday to wrap up its 2022 season.
The Cougars held their awards banquet and then had a pool party right after.
The coaching staff handed out individual player awards. Earning the senior award were all four of Trinity’s seniors: Kamzi Gross, Hannah Kerkhof, Ally Russell and Taylar Hobbs.
That group of seniors had never won a sectional title heading into this spring. It was a goal of theirs to capture one before graduating, and the Cougars did just that, beating New Washington 11-1 on May 27 to win the sectional title.
Trinity didn’t stop there. The Cougars beat West Washington 5-2 to win the program’s first regional championship before losing to Hauser 4-1 in the semistate semifinal.
The seniors went from never winning a sectional title to helping Trinity reach the farthest it ever had in the postseason.
Amanda Finke earned the Cougar Award, while Russell and Olivia Cain both earned most improved player awards. Cain was Trinity’s catcher and had the best fielding percentage on the team at .982, while Russell had the third-best fielding percentage at second base at .938.
Just like there were two most improved players, there were two most valuable players. Trinity named Gross and Bailey Tabeling co-MVPs.
For Tabeling, she was the best at reaching base for Trinity. She had a .518 batting average and a .585 on-base percentage and led the team with 28 stolen bases, 29 hits and 28 runs scored.
Gross was second on the team with a .431 batting average, led the team with four home runs and nine doubles and was second with 16 RBI.
More importantly, Gross was the Cougars’ ace. She had an ERA of 2.64, pitching 66.1 innings and striking out 78 batters. Gross pitched almost every inning during Trinity’s postseason run to the semistate.
Trinity finished the season with an overall record of 14-9, and despite losing a lot of production from its senior class, it will be returning a good amount of production for next season.