11 Lady Raiders selected to the All-District team

The Rice Lady Raiders had a bit of an up and down season but by the end of it they had 11 of their players selected to one of the All-District teams.

There were two players that were listed as Honorable Mentions, and the other nine were selected to the Academic All-District team.

Starting with the two Honorable Mentions, the two players chosen were Kimberly Aquino and Ava Torres. It’s secret why these two are here either, they made major strides in their development and improved mightily from last season.

Aquino became a very reliable hitter this season as she finished with a .500 batting average this season with 52 at bats. She also hit seven doubles this season which led the team.

As for Torres, she pitched the majority of the games for the Lady Raiders this season and struck out 34 batters. Last season Torres struggled in the circle but this year she came back with a chip on her shoulder and proved a lot of people wrong this season.

As for the nine selected to the Academic All-District team, they were Torres, Beautiful Johnson, Paige Eggemeyer, Lexia Rangel, Leanna Rangel, Rylie Schmidt, Ximena Gonzales, Faith Thompson and Abigail Hoelscher.

These girls worked hard both on and off the field and personified what it means to be a student-athlete. These ladies were a big part of their team on the field this year, but they also found a way to maintain a 3.5 GPA.

Athletics can be a little more exciting than academics sometimes, but every coach stresses the academic side of things to their players. It’s no different for the Lady Raiders; some of these girls have a lot on their plate and are juggling several different activities and assignments at once.

They never complain, they never feel bad for themselves, they just always find a way to get the job done, a trait that only truly great student athletes possess.

It was an exciting season of Lady Raider softball capped off by All-District honors, something the Lady Raiders will look to build on next season.