FULTON, Mo. – After finishing as the regular season St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference runners-up, Webster University is well represented on the 2021 All-SLIAC Softball Team that were released here Friday afternoon prior to the winner's bracket game between Webster and Fontbonne at the SLIAC Tournament being held at Blue Jay Field on the campus of Westminster College.
 
The Gorloks, who went 16-10 in the regular season and posted a 6-4 record in SLIAC play, had seven players named to one of the three All-SLIAC Teams, including fifth-year senior Abby Burroughs (Edwardsville, Ill./Triad), senior pitcher Kirbie Mendenhall (Robinson, Ill./Parkland College) and freshman catcher Jaelin Holdaway (West Valley, Utah/Cyprus) earning First-Team All-SLIAC honors. In addition to the three first team selections, freshman catcher Paige Thomas (Emporia, Kan./Emporia) and freshman shortstop Sidney Holtz (Taylorsville, Utah/Murray) earned Second-Team All-SLIAC selections, whole junior infielder Sheyla Iniguez (Riverside, Calif./Bloomington) and freshman utility player Kaelyn Kearney (Draper, Utah/Corner Canyon) earned Third-Team All-SLIAC honors and senior utility player Chloe Johnson (Hazelwood, Mo./STLCC) was selected to the SLIAC All-Sportsmanship Team.
 
With her selection, Burroughs, who was a Second-Team All-SLIAC selection from 2017-19 before moving up to the first team this season, becomes just the sixth Gorlok softball player in school history to earn All-SLIAC honors four times and the first since Kaytlin Burczak was honored from 2010-13 and Iniguez is a repeat Third-Team selection from 2019.
 
The All-SLIAC Teams were selected by the league's eight head softball coaches and the head coaches weren't allowed to vote to their own players.
 
Along with announcing the three All-SLIAC Softball Teams, the league also unveiled the winners of the league's five individual awards and the Gorloks took home three of those five honors as Burroughs was named the SLIAC Player of the Year, while Kearney was named the SLIAC Newcomer of the Year and Katie Griffith was named the SLIAC Coach of the Year after leading the Gorloks to a second place finish in the SLIAC regular season standings and earn the No. 2 seed in the SLIAC Tournament. The Gorloks are 17-10 on the season and those 17 wins are one more than the team had won in Griffith's first two years combined as Webster's coach.
 
Griffith becomes the third different Gorlok softball coach to earn SLIAC Coach of the Year honors since Brett Swip was honored in 2007. In addition to Griffith and Swip, Craig Walston was named the league's Coach of the Year in both 1998 and 2002.
 
Burroughs, who becomes the seventh Gorlok to earn SLIAC Player of the Year honors and the first since Dana Vahey was honored in 2009, earns both Player of the Year and First-Team All-SLIAC honors after leading the Gorloks in batting average (.443), hits (39), runs scored (22), at-bats (88), doubles (9), home runs (5), RBI (26), slugging percentage (.739), on-base percentage (.473) and fielding percentage (1.000) and has walked five times, struck out just nine times and is 4-for-4 on stolen bases. She ranks in the Top 10 in the league in hits, runs scored, doubles, home runs, RBI, batting average, on-base percentage and batting average. On the year, Burroughs has had seven multi-hit games, including a Webster season high five hits earlier this season at Spalding and also has had four multiple RBI games and is currently in the midst of a career-best 10 game hitting streak. In SLIAC play, Burroughs hit .575 with 23 hits, 10 runs scored, six doubles, one triple, two home runs, 12 RBI, four stolen bases and recorded a .925 slugging percentage and a .585 on-base percentage. She struck out just one time in 40 at-bats in SLIAC games.
 
Kearney, who becomes the sixth Gorlok to earn SLIAC Newcomer of the Year honors and the first since Jessica Arcangel was selected in 2010, earns her Newcomer of the Year and Third-Team All-SLIAC selection as an at-large selection after hitting .304 with 14 hits, 11 runs scored, one triple, one home run and 5 RBI in 20 games. In addition, she has walked three times and struck out just four times in 46 at-bats and recorded a .413 slugging percentage and a .347 on-base percentage and had three multi-hit games. In SLIAC play, she hit .370 with 10 hits, six runs scored, three RBI and recorded a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
 
Mendenhall earns her First-Team All-SLIAC honor as a pitcher after leading the league in wins with eight and was second in the SLIAC in ERA at 1.93. On the season, Mendenhall went 8-2 and made 12 appearances in the circle and nine starts and has tossed four complete games and one shutout. Her 54.1 innings pitched are second on the team and in those 54.1 innings, she allowed 60 hits, 18 runs, 15 earned runs, walked 18 and struck out 26 and opposing hitters hit .282 against her, which was eighth in the league. In SLIAC play, Mendenhall went 3-1 with a 1.93 ERA and in five appearances and three starts, she tossed two complete games, recorded 13 strikeouts and walked nine in 25.1 innings. Along with her pitching, Mendenhall hit .294 with 15 hits, 12 runs scored, three doubles, two triples, one home run and 7 RBI. She had a .490 slugging percentage and a .333 on-base percentage and had three multi-hit games.
 
Holdaway earns her First-Team All-SLIAC honor as a catcher after hitting .256 overall on the season with 10 hits, eight runs scored, four doubles, one home run and 8 RBI in 19 games. In addition, she walked three times, was hit by three pitches and had both a mult-hit and multiple RBI game on the year. In SLIAC play, Holdaway hit .250 with five hits, six runs scored, one double, one home run, 3 RBI. Additionally, she also helped a Gorlok pitching staff record a league-best 2.84 overall ERA on the season.
 
Burroughs, Mendenhall and Holdaway are joined on the All-SLIAC First-Team by Iowa Wesleyan senior pitcher Morgan Christner, Westminster senior infielder Brooke Laidley, Eureka senior infielder Morgan Ledbetter, Fontbonne junior infielder Gracie Morris, Eureka senior infielder Raelyn Payne, Westminster freshman outfielder Emily Esquivel, Westminster senior outfielder Mackenzie Myers, Spalding freshman utility player Madison Loechle and Eureka at-large outfielder Jordan Heinz.  
 
Along with Burroughs, Kearney and Griffith taking home the Player, Newcomer and Coach of the Year honor respectively from the league, the other two award winners were Iowa Wesleyan's Christner repeated as the SLIAC Pitcher of the Year and Blackburn College takes home the SLIAC Team Sportsmanship Team.
 
Thomas earns her Second-Team All-SLIAC selection as a catcher after hitting .372 with 16 hits, three runs scored, one double, 12 RBI, four walks in 17 games. In addition, she drew four walks, was hit by one pitch, had a stolen base and struck out three times in 43 at-bats. In SLIAC play, she hit .421 with eight hits, two runs scored, one double, 8 RBI and recorded a .474 slugging percentage and a .476 on-base percentage.
 
Holtz earns her Second-Team All-SLIAC selection as an at-large selection after being second on the team in hitting with a .423 batting average. Along with hitting .423, she has had 34 hits, 19 runs scored, eight doubles, 11 RBI in 27 games. In addition, she has drawn five walks, leads the team with six sacrifice hits and struck out just five times in 80 at-bats and recorded a .525 slugging percentage and a .460 on-base percentage and has had four multi-hit games. In SLIAC games, Holtz hit .467 with 14 hits, nine runs scored, three doubles, 5 RBI and also walked five times in 30 at-bats and slugged .567 with a .541 on-base percentage.
 
Thomas and Holtz are joined on the All-SLIAC Second-Team by Westminster sophomore pitcher Erin Carr, Fontbonne junior pitcher Abby Richmond, Westminster senior infielder Brooklyn Bledsoe, Westminster junior infielder Laney Rosson, Spalding senior infielder Grace Sweat, Blackburn sophomore infielder Maddie Wichmann, Iowa Wesleyan senior outfielder Kayla Ford, Spalding senior outfielder Jennifer Peffley, Spalding junior outfielder Maranda Thomas and Fontbonne junior utility player Lexi Becker.

Iniguez repeats as a Third-Team All-SLIAC selection as an infielder after hitting .243 with 17 hits, eight runs scored, six doubles, one home run and 10 RBI in 26 games. In addition, Iniguez led the team with 11 walks and struck out three time in 70 at-bats and recorded two multi-hit games and was second in multiple RBI games with three. In SLIAC play, she hit .313 with 10 hits, six runs scored, four doubles, one home run, 6 RBI and drew six walks in 32 at-bats. She recorded a .531 slugging percentage and a .436 on-base percentage.
 
Kearney and Iniguez are joined on the All-SLIAC Third Team by Spalding senior pitcher Olivia Carter, Westminster senior pitcher Katie Price, Fontbonne freshman catcher Grace Paez, Greenville infielder Hannah Hoffmann, Fontbonne sophomore infielder Lilly Jones, Fontbonne sophomore infielder Patience Vandermierden, Fontbonne freshman outfielder Madison Galczynski, Fontbonne junior outfielder Grace Harlin, Greenville sophomore outfielder Jaclyn Belzer and Blackburn senior utility player Brooke Daniels.
 
Johnson earned a spot on the All-Sportsmanship Team and is joined on the team by Blackburn's Jackie Rose, Eureka's Sidney Wightman, Fontbonne's Skylar Freeman, Greenville's Olivia Shipman, Iowa Wesleyan's Addison Westerkamp, Spalding's Maegan Hendricks and Westminster's Maddie Marrero.