Central’s Tenboer wins league honor
Central College
PELLA—Central College senior first baseman Katie Tenboer (Morrison, Ill.) is the Iowa Conference female athlete of the week.
Meanwhile, senior Kiley Lythberg (Mount Prospect, Ill., Prospect HS) is the conference softball pitcher of the week while sophomore Joel Pulliam (Des Moines, Lincoln HS) is the league baseball pitcher of the week.
Tenboer hit .480 with four doubles, three homers and 18 runs batted in in 10 games last week at the Tucson (Ariz.) Invitational Games. She also had four walks and a 1.000 slugging percentage while posting a .985 fielding percentage. In a 10-1 victory over No. 19-rated Wis.-La Crosse, Tenboer tied her own school record with six RBIs and hit a grand slam. Tenboer helped the No. 11-ranked Dutch softball squad extend its winning streak to 14 games.
Last year’s conference position player of the year, Tenboer also earned third-team All-America distinction. It’s the third time Tenboer has been named the league position player of the week.
Lythberg posted a 4-0 mark with a 0.84 earned run average in five starts. She yielded just three runs in 25 innings, allowing 12 hits and five walks while striking out 23 batters. She had a career-high 12 strikeouts against Schreiner (Texas). Lythberg also hit .440 for the week as the team’s designated player, driving in seven runs.
A two-time all-region and all-conference honoree, Lythberg is also a team co-captain.
Central is 14-2 overall and returns to action April 1 with non-conference games against Washington-St. Louis (Mo.) and Dubuque at Grinnell.
Pulliam posted a 0.63 ERA as the Dutch baseball squad competed in Mesa, Ariz. He threw a seven-inning complete game in a 3-2 victory over Rockford (Ill.) March 12 and threw 7.2 innings in a 5-4, 10-inning loss to Marian (Wis.) March 17. Pulliam gave up just one earned run in 14.2 innings, allowing nine hits and four walks while striking out 15. He helped the Dutch post a 7-2 record in Arizona.
It’s the second time that Pulliam has received the league honor. He was also a second-team all-conference pick last year.
Central is 9-3 overall and opens Iowa Conference baseball play with a three-game series against Loras College at Pella Friday and Saturday.
