By Cort Reynolds
DELPHOS - Ada seniors Maddie Gossard and Sydney Newland were each named first team All-Northwest Conference for softball in voting by the league coaches Monday night at Delphos.
By voting time third baseman Gossard had batted .542, hammered a team-high eight home runs, drilled 17 doubles and drove in a team-high 43 runs. She slugged at a squad-leading 1.069 clip.
Gossard finished third in league Player of the Year voting, and repeated on the All-NWC first team from 2017. She will attend Heidelberg University and play softball there.
Ada four-year starting catcher Sydney Newland was also named first team all-league. The southpaw has batted .584, hit 15 doubles, smacked four homers and drove in 43 runs. She also posted a .969 slugging pct. and led the team in runs (36) and hits (45).
Newland was a second team all-league pick in 2017 and made honorable mention in 2016. Sydney has signed to play softball at the University of Northwestern Ohio, an NAIA program in nearby Lima, next season.
Bulldog senior shortstop Olivia Alexander was named second team All-NWC. She was the leadoff hitter and batted .419 with a .527 on-base pct. She stole 15 bases and scored 35 runs.
Alexander made second team all-league in 2016, and was honorable mention in 2017.
Sure-handed senior center fielder Kaiti Newland was named honorable mention all-league for the second year in a row. She was a second team all-league pick in 2016.
Kaiti Newland batted .313 with a home run and 20 RBI in 2018. She scored 21 runs and posted a .483 on-base pct.
Senior shortstop Kara May of outright league champion Spencerville (7-1 NWC) was voted NWC Player of the Year. Jeff Johnston of Spencerville was also voted NWC Coach of the Year for leading the Lady Bearcats to their first-ever league softball crown.
Junior shortstop Averey Rumer of Bluffton was the runner-up to May for top conference honors, 171 voting points to 167. Ada's Gossard received 159 points.
The Lady Bulldogs are 16-8 overall and went 5-3 in the NWC to end up tied for fourth in the nine-team league.
Paulding and Crestview tied for second in the balanced league at 6-2. Ada and Bluffton tied for fourth at 5-3, with Columbus Grove sixth at 4-4. Defending champion Allen East finished seventh at 2-6.
Mustang senior shortstop/pitcher Riley Newland was voted first team all-league. AE junior catcher Laken Basham was named second team All-NWC.
Mustang junior middle infielder Olivia Lawrence, senior pitcher/second baseman Chloe Lawrence and junior first sacker Sydney Miller were all voted honorable mention all-league.
