CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The 2024 All-American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Softball Team as voted by the league’s head coaches: 
 

2024 All-American Rivers Conference Softball Team
Position Player of the Year - Ruby Kappeler, Coe College
Pitcher of the Year - Emma Beck, Central College
Coaching Staff of the Year - Central College, Head Coach - George Wares
First Team	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Emma Beck #	Central	So.	P	Holland, Iowa/Grundy Center
Haley Bach @	Central	Jr.	2B	Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central
Hannah Higgins	Central	So.	UTL	Macomb, Ill./Macomb
Heather Boeckenstedt $ #	Coe	5th Year	SS	Edgewood, Iowa/Beckman
Shaylee Dodd	Coe	5th Year	3B	Belle Plaine, Iowa/Belle Plaine
Ruby Kappeler -h3	Coe	5th Year	OF	Muscatine, Iowa/Durant
Chloe Hild	Dubuque	So.	DP	West Chicago, Ill./St. Charles East
*Ashlyn Hemm $ @	Loras	Jr.	P	Port Byron, Ill./Riverdale
*Olivia Engler	Luther	Jr.	P	Atlantic, Iowa/Atlantic
*Abby Spore ! @ *	Luther	Sr.	C	Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Kennedy
Val Gerlach	Nebraska Wesleyan	5th Year	C	Waverly, Neb./Waverly
Hanna Roth	Nebraska Wesleyan	Sr.	OF	Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln North Star
Megan Heidelbauer	Simpson	So.	1B	Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar
Ashlyn Steen @	Simpson	So.	OF	Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon
Ashley Nelson	Wartburg	Sr.	P	Dekalb, Ill./Dekalb
Second Team	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Emma Johnson $ @	Central	5th Year	OF	Davenport, Iowa/Assumption
*Morgan Schaben	Central	5th Year	P	Portsmouth, Iowa/Harlan
Bree Mangelsen #	Coe	Sr.	DP	Charlotte, Iowa/Northeast
Madi Parson	Coe	5th Year	OF	Clinton, Iowa/Camanche
Ellie Thurow	Coe	5th Year	P	Woodstock, Ill./Woodstock North
*Bella Allison	Dubuque	So.	OF	Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island
Riley Sauser	Luther	Jr.	1B	Ely, Iowa/Cedar Rapids Prairie
Paige Davison	Nebraska Wesleyan	Jr.	SS	Omaha, Neb./Omaha Burke
Lyndsey Roth	Nebraska Wesleyan	Jr.	UTL	Lincoln, Neb./Nebraska-Kearney
Elise Warneke @	Nebraska Wesleyan	5th Year	P	Bennington, Neb./Omaha Skutt Catholic
Kate Kriegel	Simpson	Jr.	2B	Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell
Maddie Luderman	Simpson	Sr.	C	Bellevue, Neb./Bellevue East
*Alexis Ehlers #	Simpson	Jr.	SS	Bryant, Iowa/Northeast Goose Lake
Caelynn Obleton	Simpson	So.	3B	Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar
Kaylie Springer	Wartburg	Sr.	OF	Dubuque, Iowa/Hempstead
Honorable Mention	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Keirsten Trayte	Buena Vista	So.	UTL	Medina, Ohio/Highland
Paige Druskis	Buena Vista	Jr.	OF	Omaha, Neb./Plattsmouth
Katherine Svigelj	Loras	Fr.	UTL	Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central
Ken Vavrichek	Luther	Jr.	OF	Bloomington, Minn./The Blake School
Previous Honors
* At Large Selection
! - 2023 Position Player of the Year
@ - 2023 First-Team All-Conference
# - 2023 Second-Team All-Conference
$ - 2022 First-Team All-Conference
* - 2021 Second-Team All-Conference
-h3 - 2021 Honorable Mention

 
The American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) announced today its major softball awards and the 30-member All-Conference team for the 2024 season. Central College collected two major awards this season. Emma Beck (So., Holland, Iowa/Grundy Center) was named A-R-C Pitcher of the Year and the Central College Coaching Staff was awarded American Rivers Conference Softball Coaching Staff of the Year. The Dutch are led by head coach George Wares and earned this honor with associate head coach Alicia O’Brien, and assistant coaches Keith Jones, John Edwards, Brenda Coldren, and Eric Fay. Coe College’s Ruby Kappeler (Fifth Yr., Muscatine, Iowa/Durant) was selected as the 2024 A-R-C Pitcher of the Year. 
 
Beck becomes the fourth Dutch to be honored as Pitcher of the Year, joining Megan Swingen (2009), Karly Olson (2017), and Mariah Fritz (2019). The sophomore led the A-R-C with nine wins to her name this season in conference action, starting eight games in the circle and pitching three complete games. Beck maintained a 2.08 ERA in conference play this season, throwing 43.1 innings in the circle for Central. Beck finished with 30 strikeouts. The sophomore led the Dutch back to the NCAA Tournament for a record 32nd time after earning an at-large. Central will host the regional round, beginning Thursday. 
 
Coe’s Kappeler becomes the seventh Position Player of the Year in program history, and first since 2018. Kappeler joins Paige Stamp (2000), Jamie Dalbey (2002), Amy Ernst (2005), Ashley Leonard (2009), Abby Flannagann (2011), and Haley Jones (2018). The Muscatine, Iowa native posted a .481 batting average and 26 hits in 16 conference games. She batted in 23 runs while maintaining an on base percentage of .533. She additionally hit four homeruns in conference action. She helped guide the Kohawks to a 31-9 overall record and a 12-4 record in league play, finishing second. Coe won the A-R-C Tournament to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. 
 
Wares is collecting his tenth career Coach of the Year honor at the helm of the Dutch softball program. He has been a staple of Dutch and Division III softball since 1985. Wares led the team to an outright regular season title. Wares and his staff led Central to a 29-10 overall record and 13-3 conference mark. In addition, Wares led the Dutch back to a place he is familiar with, the NCAA Tournament after earning an at-large bid. 
 
Joining Beck as First-Team All-Conference performers for the Dutch include Haley Bach (Jr., Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central) and Hannah Higgins (So., Macomb, Ill./Macomb). Bach posted a .396 batting average in league play this season, scoring 18 times in 16 games. The junior second baseman recorded 15 RBI and 11 walks with only six strikeouts in 48 at bats. She was successful eight of her nine attempts when stealing an extra base. In the field, Bach was perfect. She recorded 35 putouts and no errors. Higgins batted an impressive .429 during 16 conference games while bringing in 18 runs. She herself scored 111 times and just recorded five strikeouts in conference play. When she attempted to steal a bag, she was successful in three of her five attempts. Bach is earning her second consecutive first-team honor while Higgins is receiving her first career all-conference accolade. 
 
Heather Boeckenstedt (Fifth Yr., Edgewood, Iowa/Beckman) and Shaylee Dodd (Fifth Yr., Belle Plaine, Iowa/Belle Plaine) are joining Kappeler on first-team for the Kohawks. In 16 conference contests, Boeckenstedt batted .471, recording 24 hits and 21 runs scored. She was successful on ten of her 11 attempts when stealing this conference season. She was eight times in league action, but only recorded two strikeouts. The fifth-year shortstop only recorded one error in conference play, and had 29 assists and 25 putouts. In the field, the fifth-year third baseman, Dodd, recorded just two errors with 22 assists and 12 putouts herself. At the plate, Dodd posted a .390 batting average. Playing in just 14 games this conference season, she recorded 16 hits, 14 RBI, and 12 runs scored. She blasted two home runs and only struck out on a single occasion. Boeckenstedt is earning her second-career first-team honor while Dodd is earning her first career all-conference nod. 
 
The lone Spartan recognized on the first-team was Chloe Hild (So., West Chicago, Ill./St. Charles East). Hild posted a .382 batting average in her 13 appearances this spring in conference action. She picked up 13 hits in her 34 at bats this season, to go along with ten RBIs and four runs scored. In her 34 at bats, Hild recorded seven strikeouts. She is earning her first career all-conference accolade. 
 
Ashlyn Hemm (Jr., Port Byron, Ill./Riverdale) earned first-team honors for the Loras College Duhawks. Hemm was a starting pitcher for the Duahwks where she posted a 5-4 record in conference action from the circle this season. Hemm maintained an ERA of 2.84 in 57.0 innings pitched. Accounting for 58 strikeouts on 210 batters faced. She wreaked havoc on an opponent batting average of .171 during her nine appearances. Hemm is picking up her third straight first-team A-R-C honor. 
 
The Luther College Norse had two first-team all-conference representatives, Olivia Engler (Jr., Atlantic, Iowa/Atlantic) and Abby Spore (Sr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Kennedy). Engler led from the pitching mound this season for the Norse. She posted a 7-4 record, pitching seven complete games. In her 68.2 innings of work, she posted a 2.45 ERA and recorded 39 strikeouts. She forced opponents to a .225 batting average during her 13 appearances in the circle. The 2023 A-R-C Position Player of the Year, Spore, had another impressive season. She played in all 16 conference contests and maintained an ERA of .438. During her 48 at bats, the senior catcher recorded 21 hits and 13 RBI. She found her way down the line by seven walks and one hit by pitch. A dominant force behind the plate, Spore recorded 66 putouts and just three errors in the conference season. Engler is earning her first career all-conference nod while Spore is seeing her name on the first-team list for the second-straight season. 
 
The two Prairie Wolf first-team honorees include Val Gerlach (Fifth Yr., Waverly, Neb./Waverly) and Hanna Roth (Sr., Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln North Star). Gerlach posted a .372 batting average in 15 conference games this spring. In her 43 at bats, she recorded 16 hits, seven RBIs, and five runs scored. She recorded just a single strikeout. The fifth-year catcher recorded just three errors while having 35 putouts from behind the plate. Roth, a senior outfielder, was perfect this conference season with no errors and 21 putouts. From the plate, Roth posted an impressive ERA of .449. She grabbed 22 hits, 14 runs scored, and five RBI during her 49 trips to the plate. Each are earning their first career all-conference honor. 
 
Ashlyn Steen (So., Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon) and Megan Heidelbauer (So., Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar) are representing the Simpson College Storm on the 2024 A-R-C First-Team All-Conference team. Steen led the way for the Storm from the plate maintaining an ERA of .453. In her 53 trips to the plate, she recorded 24 hits, 19 runs scored, and nine RBI. Steen, and outfielder, had 16 putouts and no errors to be perfect this conference season. Heidelbauer, a first baseman for Simpson, was responsible for 135 putouts while only recording two errors through 16 league games. At the plate, she posted a .362 ERA with 47 at bats. During her time at the plate, the sophomore recorded 17 hits, 13 runs brought in, and ten runs scored herself. Steen is earning her second-straight first-team honor while Heidelbauer is receiving her first career all-conference nod. 
 
Rounding out the first-team honorees is Ashley Nelson (Sr., Dekalb, Ill./Dekalb). Nelson, a senior pitcher for the Wartburg College Knights, was the top threat in the circle. Nelson went 6-3 in conference play this season from the circle. She started 13 games and pitched three complete games. She maintained an ERA of 3.24 and recorded 43 strikeouts during 58.1 innings of action. Nelson is earning her first career all-conference honor.