Mercer Softball Earns Multiple Region and Conference Honors
Mercer softball earned multiple Region 19 and GSAC (Garden State Athletic Conference) honors following a 40-10 season.
Sophomore outfielder Bella Truelove (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) who earned 1 st Team NJCAA Division II All-American honors, earned 1 st Team All-Region and 1 st Team All-GSAC honors and was named the Region 19 Division II Player of the Year. Truelove finished the season as the Mercer career leader in RBIs (141) and home runs (39) in addition to holding the MCCC single season records in hits (85), RBIs (98), and slugging percentage (1.083 %). Truelove’s 98 RBIs this season were second best in Division II NJCAA softball and her 28 home runs was fifth best. Truelove finished the season with a .506 batting average (19 th in NJCAA), had 85 hits (18 th in NJCAA) and scored 74 runs (22 nd in NJCAA) in 50 games.
Sophomore infielder Julia Hannawacker (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) also earned 1 st Team All-Region 19 and 1 st Team All-GSAC honors. The second baseman finished the season with a .431 batting average and .505 on base percentage. Hannawacker had 75 hits and scored 70 runs, which was 30 th best in NJCAA Division II softball. Hannawacker also had a .910 fielding percentage on the season.
Freshman pitcher Shea Krebs (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville HS) earned 2 nd Team All-Region honors and 1 st Team All-GSAC honors. Krebs finished the season with an 18-4 record and 2.88 ERA. Krebs had 128 strikeouts while only allowing 41 walks in 109.1 innings pitched. Krebs pitched 10 complete games and had 4 shutouts.
Freshman infielder Maya Patel (Burlington, NJ/Burlington Township) was named 1 st Team All-GSAC. Patel batted .420 on the season with a .888 slugging percentage. Patel had 20 home runs, which was 19 th best in NJCAA Division II softball and 86 RBIs which was 10 th best in the NJCAA . Patel had 71 hits and scored 63 runs for the Vikings this season.
Head Coach Ryan Zegarski was named the GSAC Coach of the Year. Zegarski completed his 18 th year as Head Coach of the MCCC softball program. In his 18 years as Head Coach, Zegarski has not had a losing season. He has a career record of 557-218-1 and a .717 winning percentage. The 40 wins the Vikings had this season is the second best in program history, one win shy of tying the program best 41 wins reached in 2016. The Vikings finished 40-10 in the 2023 season, losing in heartbreaking fashion to Del Tech in the Region 19 Championship game, 9-10.
Sophomore outfielder Bella Truelove
Sophomore infielder Julia Hannwacker
Freshman pitcher Shea Krebs
Freshman infielder Maya Patel