April 19, 2023, GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Izzy Regner, Fernando Rivera-Calderon and Lucas McKinney of the Grand Rapids Community College softball and baseball teams were named Michigan Community College Athletic Association Northern Conference Players of the Week after outstanding work both on the mound and at the plate.
Regner pitched four complete games, giving up no earned runs while striking out 37 batters, including 11 twice against Alpena Community College.
The sophomore hurler from Elkhorn, Wis. not only ranks as one of the best in the conference, but one of the best in the country. Her 11.97 strikeouts per inning ranks her second in the national NJCAA division two rankings. She's also fifth in the nation with a 0.89 ERA and 188 strikeouts.
Regner also ranks as one of the best batters in the conference, batting .472 with 20 RBI, four home runs, 12 doubles and a triple.
McKinney picked up two wins during the week for the baseball team, once against Mid Michigan College in their final game of the series and the other against Alpena Community College in game three of their series.
At Mid Michigan, the freshman from Clarkston, tossed a complete game, giving up just three hits and one run. Four days later, against the Lumberjacks, he gave up five hits and no earned runs. For the week he posted an ERA of 0.69 and struck out 10 batters.
McKinney leads the team with five wins in six appearances. In 29 innings on the mound, he has 24 strikeouts and opponents are batting just .217 against him.
Rivera-Calderon slugged his way to player of the week honors by batting .583 with seven extra base hits, including two home runs and a triple. He had at least two hits in six of the seven games played. He also had five stolen bases and had nine putouts.
The sophomore from Cayey, Puerto Rico is the only player on the team to play and start in all 30 games for the Raiders.
He leads the team with 36 hits, 10 stolen bases, 31 RBI and four triples. He is second on the team in batting average, .371; home runs, five; doubles, nine; and slugging percentage, .701.
The baseball team is 20-10 and on an 11-game winning streak. The softball team is 16-13 after taking three of five in their last conference series.
Both teams are scheduled to resume conference play April 21 in a five-game series with Muskegon Community College.
This story was reported by Ben Brown.