College Softball: Tautges, Austin honored by MCAC

By Dispatch staff report

May 12, 2023 at 11:47 AM

BRAINERD — Central Lakes College freshman pitcher and infielder, Emma Tautges, was named the Minnesota College Athletic Conference North Division Player-of-the-Year.

In her 99 plate appearances, Tautges hit .467 on the season and .407 in conference play, with 6 doubles and 4 home runs. She had 27 RBI and scored 31 runs, and compiled a slugging percentage of .663. Defensively, Tautges had 83 put-outs and 21 assists for a .963 fielding percentage, while pitching 2 shutouts and limiting North Division batters to a .47 earned run average and .183 batting average against her.

Ray Austin, Central Lakes College softball coach, earned the MCAC North Division Coach-of-the-Year honor.

After going 13-14 overall and 7-1 in the North Division, Austin led his Raiders to a share of the MCAC North Division title. Austin and the Raiders will host the NJCAA Region 13B Tournament in Brainerd beginning Saturday.

Landing spots on the North All-Division First Team along with Tautges were sophomore pitcher Marissa Callahan, sophomore catcher and outfielder Halle Zupan and sophomore shortstop Zakia Herron.

Making the second team was freshman third baseman and catcher Gabrielle Dulas, freshman centerfielder Sophia Laube and freshman third baseman Isabelle Krawieki.

Tautges, Callahan, Zupan and Herron were also named to the All-MCAC team.

By Dispatch staff report

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of "staff." Often, the "staff" byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

Hi, I'm the Brainerd Dispatch. I started working a few days before Christmas in 1881 and became a daily paper two years later. I've gone through a lot of changes over the years, but what has never changed is my commitment to community and to local journalism. I've got an entire team of dedicated people who work night and day to make sure I go out every morning, whether in print, as an e-edition, via an app or with additional information at www.brainerddispatch.com. News, weather, sports — videos, photos, podcasts and social media — all covering stories from central Minnesota about your neighbors, your lakes, your communities, your challenges and your opportunities. It's all part of the effort to keep people connected and informed. And we couldn't do it without support.

College Softball: Tautges, Austin honored by MCAC

The Central Lakes College Raiders were honored by the Minnesota College Athletic Conference.