Highlassies earn all-conference and all-region honors

Six members of the McLennan Highlassies Softball squad were named to the 2018 North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference All-Conference team as voted on by the coaches.

Sophomore pitcher Victoria Vasquez and freshman catcher Kaitlin Richards were named first-team all-conference selections. Vasquez, a right-hander from San Marcos, appeared in 25 regular-season games for the Highlassies including 18 starts and 120.2 innings pitched. She leads McLennan into the postseason with 14 wins, 132 strikeouts, and a 1.51 ERA. Richards, a Mansfield native, has appeared in 37 games and has a .377 regular-season batting average with 12 doubles, three home runs, 33 RBIs and 19 walks. Vasquez and Richards were also named to the All-Region V North selections.

Second-team selections for the Highlassies include freshman pitcher Emily Klanika, freshman infielder Cassie Pavlas, sophomore outfielder Zayra Olguin and freshman outfielder Charley Avery. Klanika, a right-hander from Pflugerville, has started 19 of the Highlassies' regular-season games recording a 2.15 ERA in 78 innings pitched with 64 strikeouts. Pavlas, from West, has played in 36 Highlassie games, spending time at first and second bases. She has a .357 batting average with 12 doubles, two home runs and 22 RBIs. Olguin, from Schertz, has a team-leading .386 batting average with 10 RBIs in 23 games. Avery, from San Antonio, has a .347 average with four triples in 30 games.

McLennan will be the third seed in the Region V North Tournament at The Ballfields of Craig Ranch in McKinney. The Highlassies will face sixth-seed Grayson at noon Friday in the opening game.