Ciarkowski and Bednarski earn all-region, all-district honors

by Peter Jakey– Managing Editor

Even though the Posen softball team did not make it out of probably one of the toughest districts in the state, the individual efforts of the players have not gone unnoticed. Head coach Glenn Budnick, who earned his 200th career softball win a few weeks ago, had another successful season with a 29-5 record. He also has several post season award winners. The Vikings? record setting senior pitcher, Jenny Ciarkowski, and a sweet swinging, smooth fielding sophomore, Christina Bednarski, took all-region and all-district accolades. A total of five players made the North Star League?s post-season squad.

Of the 29 Posen wins this season, Jenny had 25 of them on thh mound, which is a new single season record. Going into the season, many people outside of Posen wondered how Budnick would replace Beth Julian. Now they are going to wonder how the will replace another outstanding pitcher. She unequivocally was the ace with 132 strikeouts. No other pitcher on the team had more than 10, so there?s no question about who carried the load on the mound.

Ciarkowski outgunned Hannah Hewitt of regional champion Harbor Light Christian last month, 6-4, after Hewitt won the first game against Posen. Ciarkowski also was the leading hitter with a .480 average. She hit two homers over the fence, one which was probably the longest in school history, at the Whittemore tournament. She also led the club with 28 RBI.

WITH AN all-region pitcher on the mound, overpowered righthanded batters are likely to swing late and hit the ball to right. In softball, it?s usually a good idea to put one of th

e best outfielders in this spot. Posen had Christina Bednarski in rightfield, where she made 15 put outs and committed only four errors. Bednarski also was the third leading hitter with a .452 average, and at times she was difficult to get out. The sophomore struck out less than 10 times. For Posen batters with more than 30 at-bats, eight strikeouts was tied for second best on the team. Also making the all-region team from Rogers City were third baseman Moni Cercone and another rightfielder, Chelsie Brege. Onaway pitcher Tarci Amyotte, who tossed two shut out wins in the district tournament, also made the squad.

Posen?s first-team all-conference selections include catcher Mary Calhoun (.469, 12 doubles, 37 runs, 18 SB), shortstop Megan Pieczynski (.377, 22 RBI, 18 BB), and Ciarkowski. Catcher/designated hitter Megan Haske (.293, 20 singles) and Bednarski were honorable mentions from the North Star League coaches.