Weekly Spotlight--Kelly Essner

KELLY ESSNER

• School: Kelly

Class: Senior

Sport: Softball

Accomplishment: Essner, a shortstop and pitcher, committed no errors this year at either position. She was 10-3 on the mound with a 0.68 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 72.1 innings, allowing only seven runs. At the plate, she hit .273 with 14 RBI, including the go-ahead RBI in Friday's Class 2 state semifinal game. She also scored the winning run in a 1-0 victory Saturday against Bishop LeBlond that gave the Hawks the state crown.

Essner: "We all played together. Our defense was always backing us up. It took a lot of work all summer, and it feels really good to be state champions, even though it hasn't quite sunk in yet. But after so many people congratulate you, it's just awesome."

Coach Rhonda Ratledge: "When you have a player that plays every game at two tough positions, you're definitely going to miss that girl. ... She and Whitney [Beggs] dominated all year on the mound for us."