Central’s Parchert, Fritz win league softball honors
Central Dutch Athletics
PELLA—Central College shortstop Daria Parchert (sophomore, Illinois City, Ill., Rockridge HS) and pitcher Mariah Fritz (senior, Tama, East Marshall HS) have received American Rivers Conference position player and pitcher of the week honors, respectively.
The duo helped lead the Dutch to a 6-0 week and the program’s 13th conference championship. Central secured the title by knocking off No. 13 Luther College at Pella Sunday, 8-7 and 10-1 in five innings.
Parchert hit .563 for the week and had four hits, including three doubles with three RBIs as well as a steal of home in the pivotal wins over Luther. She also stifled a Luther rally with an unassisted double play, one of three she started for the week. Parchert also belted a game-winning 2-run home run in a 4-3 victory at Loras College last Wednesday. She also sparkled in the field with 13 putouts and 17 assists with no errors for the week.
Parchert’s batting average surged to .418 with 24 RBIs and 19 runs scored.
Fritz was 5-0 on the week, throwing 404 pitches with four complete games. She threw all 12 innings of Sunday’s wins over Luther. For the week, she gave up 38 hits in 29 innings with 10 earned runs and 10 strikeouts. She raised her season record to 17-7 with a 3.69 earned run average. She’s thrown 140.1 innings and appeared in 27 games.
Central (24-8) carries the No. 1 seed into the six-team American Rivers Tournament at Pella Friday and Saturday. After a first-round bye, the Dutch play at 11 a.m. Saturday at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex softball field. Central will take on the winner of a Friday contest between No. 4-seeded Luther and No. 5 University of Dubuque.
