ANNVILLE, Pa. – On Thursday morning, the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) announced its all-conference selections for the 2021 season. In total, Messiah had five players honored with All-MAC Commonwealth selections with
Madison Walter leading the way with a First Team nod in the circle.
Olivia Denmark,
Brynne Baker, and
Elena Rosas all earned Second Team honors while
Isabel Seise claimed an honorable mention accolade. These five will be in action this weekend as the Falcons square off with the York Spartans with the MAC Commonwealth Championship on the line. The three-game series gets underway on Saturday with a doubleheader at York. If the two teams split, a decisive Game Three will take place at Messiah on Sunday afternoon.
Not only has Walter been a key factor in the Falcons' recent playoff run through the MAC Commonwealth Tournament, but she has been a consistent and dominant arm during the entire 2021 campaign. On the pandemic-shortened season, Walter has an 11-5 record, including 13 complete games. With just two more complete games, the junior pitcher would place herself sixth all-time in Messiah softball history in complete games in a single season. Allowing opposing batters to hit a mere .167, Walter has recorded 106 strikeouts, tossing a conference-best 113.0 innings. With a remarkable strikeout/walk ratio of 14.1 (113/8), Walter has issued just under 0.50 walks per seven innings pitched, a program-high mark.
In the playoffs, Walter has dialed it up. Pitching all 22 innings of the Quarterfinals opposite Eastern University, Walter faced a total of 78 batters, striking out 12 while not allowing an earned run. In Game One of the series, Walter tossed a no-hitter. In the Semifinals, the junior pitcher combined for 10.1 innings pitched in two contests, allowing zero runs while striking out 13 batters. In Game One, Walter faced 24 batters, allowing just three to reach base on two walks and a base hit.
On Monday, Walter was announced MAC Commonwealth Pitcher of the Week, her fourth weekly recognition from the conference this season.
Denmark, in her first full season in a Messiah uniform, has put up stellar offensive numbers to earn her first-career all-conference nod. Denmark has knocked in eight runs on 17 hits, slugging at a .500 percentage. The sophomore outfielder had a career day in a 12-6 road win at Lycoming College (Apr. 5), going 3-for-4 at the dish while driving in a career-high four RBI. In the game, Denmark launched her first-career home run, a game-tying, three-run blast to right center field. Denmark followed the three-hit performance with consecutive multi-hit games, going 7-for-11 at the plate during the trio of games. Denmark is just one of four Falcons (
McKenzie Shannon,
Paige Eakes, Seise) who has recorded at least five multi-hit games throughout the 2021 campaign.
Brynne Baker earns her first career All-Conference honor with a Second Team nod this season. Currently, Baker is tied for the team lead with a .286 batting average and has driven home nine runs with a pair of home runs. On the season she has scored 11 runs, currently ranking in the top three on the team in batting average, home runs, RBI, and extra-base hits (seven). While Baker was honored due to her play in the outfield, she has also logged 50 innings in the circle, good for second most on the team. Baker holds a 2.38 ERA with a 5-3 record. She has struck out 37 batters while issuing just nine walks.
Also on the Second Team was junior designated player
Elena Rosas. The Falcons' biggest power bat, Rosas has notched five home runs on the season, though her power hasa come in bunches with a pair of two-homer games. The first came against Eastern in Game One of a doubleheader on Mar. 27, but her most notable was this past weekend against Alvernia where the Falcons defeated the top-seeded team in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament to earn a spot in the MAC Commonwealth Championship Series. Sporting a .245 batting average, Rosas has driven home 13 runs on the year while scoring six of her own.
Isabel Seise earned her first career All-Conference honor, picking up an Honorable Mention nod this season. She has recorded 21 hits on the season, second-best mark on the team. With five doubles and nine RBI to her name, the senior had a season-best offensive performance on Apr. 5 on the road at Lycoming. Seise went 3-for-4, knocking in three runs. In a 4-1 victory over Arcadia University (Apr. 24), Seise launched her fourth-career home run, a two-run shot to right field to seal the victory for the Falcons.
As mentioned, the fourth-seeded Messiah Falcons will be back in action this weekend, competing in its 15th-ever MAC Commonwealth Conference Championship on the road at third-seeded York College (Pa.) on Saturday, May 15, at 1:00 p.m. Looking to claim their tenth Conference Crown, the Falcons will clash with the Spartans in a best-of-three series with an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament on the line.
