Women's Summer Collegiate Fast-Pitch Softball League

Spencer, Kaste, Thornley join softball league

Jaclyn Spencer from the University of Northern Iowa, Miranda Kaste from Kirkwood and Chelsea Thornley from Webster University in St.  Louis are the latest college athletes to join the new Iowa Women's  Softball League for this summer.

There are now 38 players in the league, which has been formed by the Metro Sports Report as the only summer collegiate fast-pitch softball league in Iowa. The goal is to have four teams with 12 or 13 players apiece, so we're getting close.

Spencer, currently a freshman at UNI, enjoyed a remarkable high school career at Waterloo West. She was a three-time all-state selection and  a four-time all-conference pick at Waterloo West, where she starred as both a pitcher and a hitter.

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Spencer had a career batting average of .489 with 39 home runs and 180 RBIs. She compiled a 49-34 record as a pitcher with 691 strikeouts in 560 innings in five years on the varsity.

Spencer has continued to be a dual threat at Northern Iowa. She's  currently hitting .278 with two home runs and eight RBIs, and has a  5-4 record and 2.27 ERA in the circle with 60 strikeouts in 52.1  innings.

Kaste, who played at Muscatine High School, has been at Kirkwood for two years but has not been able to take the field in a varsity game while recovering from a broken leg. She is a talented middle infielder and was ticketed to become Kirkwood's starting shortstop before getting hurt.

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Ehresman, Yost join Iowa softball league

Kasiah Ehresman of Coe and Bradi Yost of Ellsworth are the latest college players to join the new Iowa Women's Softball League.

Ehresman and Yost are the 34th and 35th players to join the program, which is intended for all active college players in Iowa and for all Iowans who are competing at out-of-state schools.

Ehresman, a freshman infielder at Coe, was one of the most prolific stolen-bases artists in the country during her high school career at Lynnville-Sully. She stole 218 bases during her four years on the  varsity, a total that puts her No. 2 all-time in Iowa and No. 6 all-time in the country, according to the National Federation of High  Schools (NFHS).

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Ehresman was rarely caught on the bases and was thrown out only 10 times, finishing 218 of 228 in her career. She was 29 for 31 as a  freshman, 61 of 64 as a sophomore, 61 of 63 as a junior, and 67 of 70 as a senior.

Ehresman twice hit over .500 at Lynnville-Sully, batting .564 in 2014 and .540 in 2015, and scored 196 runs in 154 games.

Yost, a sophomore at Ellsworth Community College, is a versatile  player as a pitcher, first baseman and outfielder. She was named first  team all-region last year as a utility player after hitting .374 with nine homers and 24 RBIs and also serving as the No. 2 pitcher at Ellsworth.

Yost began pitching for the varsity at Aplington-Parkersburg High  School as an eighth grader. She made several all-conference and  all-district teams and received Honorable Mention all-state honors during her career.

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Young, Onken join MSR softball league

Abbie Young of Ellsworth Community College and Hannah Onken of Wartburg are the latest college softball players to join the new Iowa Women's Softball League that will begin this year.

Young and Onken are the 32nd and 33rd players to join the program, which is intended for all active college players in Iowa and for all Iowans who are competing at out-of-state schools.

Seventeen different colleges have at least one player in the league.  The list includes Kirkwood, UNI, Coe, Mount Mercy, Luther, Wartburg,  Waldorf, Illinois State, Indian Hills, Loras, South Dakota State, Upper Iowa, DMACC, Western Illinois, Southeastern Community College, Indiana State and Ellsworth.

Kirkwood has the most players in the program with eight. There are three apiece from UNI and Coe.

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In addition, the 33 players hail from 25 different high schools. Solon leads the way with four former Spartans in the program and Kennedy has three graduates in the league.

Young, a second baseman, is a freshman at Ellsworth this year. She hit  .380 with 19 RBIs at AGWSR High School in Ackley last season and was named second team all-state in Class 1A. Young helped AGWSR win the 1A state title in 2015 and place third in 2013 and 2014.

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UNI's Roby, Craig join softball league

The new Iowa Women's Softball League received a nice boost Monday when Brittney Roby and Brooke Craig from the successful University of Northern Iowa softball team joined the program.

A total of 31 college softball players have now joined the league, including eight players from NCAA Division I schools.

Roby has been an outstanding hitter at every rung of her softball  career. She began her prep career by batting .642 as an eighth grader  at Twin Cedars High School in Bussey and then hit .568, .655, .634 and .651 during the next four seasons.

Roby, an outfielder, collected 12 homers and 133 RBIs in high school and was named first team all-state for five straight years from 2010 through 2014.

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Roby continued her lusty hitting in college at DMACC, where she hit .582 with 15 homers and 85 RBIs as a freshman in 2015 and followed by hitting .551 with 10 homers and 68 RBIs last season as a sophomore.

Roby was named a first team NJCAA All-American during both of her  campaigns at DMACC. Remarkably, she struck out only one time in 2016 and struck out only two times in 2015.

Roby is currently a junior at UNI with two more years of eligibility.

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