Why Rock Valley College's latest softball national title meant so much

The accolades continued to roll in for the Rock Valley College softball team.

On Wednesday, Hannah Hockerman was named the NJCAA Division III Softball Pitcher of the Year, just weeks after Rock Valley won its eighth straight national championship.

RVC begins its transition to Division II athletics next fall, making the title its final one at the D-III level. And the Golden Eagles made it count.

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"This one's special," RVC coach Darin Monroe said. "With it being our last year at the Division III level, this was like capping our run off on a high note. We kind of finished off that part of our legacy on top, and that's special."

RVC (48-11) bumped its NJCAA record of most consecutive national titles across all three divisions to eight in impressive fashion.

Awards come rolling in

The Golden Eagles were led by several stars, all of whom are being honored this postseason. Outfielder/catcher Kayla Freiberg, who had two triples, a homer and three RBIs in the national tourney, ended her time at Rock Valley by earning the tournament's Most Valuable Player award.

Hockerman was already named the Most Outstanding Pitcher at the D-III nationals after three strong appearances, earning two wins with a 1.00 ERA to go along with 23 strikeouts. She was joined by teammate Kelli Riordan who was named the Offensive MVP of the Tournament, as well as Madison Carlson, Jenna Turner and Bella Crimaldi who were all named to the all-tournament team.

To top it all off, Monroe, along with new co-head coach Vivi Marquez, was named Coach of the Tournament for the eighth straight year.

But even after the tourney was long over, the accolades still poured in.

Hockerman, a Southern Illinois commit, became the second consecutive RVC pitcher to win Pitcher of the year for D-III this week. She led the nation in wins (25) and her 1.74 ERA was second in the country, as were her 222 strikeouts.

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"She had a year," Monroe said of Hockerman. "And we had that 1-2 punch with her and Maddy (Madison Carlson), and that's just something most teams don't have."

Hockerman was also named first-team NJCAA D-III all-America, which was announced this week, along with RVC sophomore infielder Evy Polsfuss; sophomore infielder Kelli Riordan; and freshman outfielder Kaitlin Stefek. Hockerman, Polsfuss, Stefak and Jenna Turner were also named to the NJCA All-American list, which gives RVC five total names on the two different All American lists, which ties a team record. They did the same in 2017.

Off to the next level

And Hockerman is one of six locked in to a four-year college to continue their softball careers. The others are: Riordan and Freiberg are both headed to D-I IUPUI; Polsfuss is headed to D-II St. Cloud State; and Bailee Reynolds and Scott Kram are going to NAIA Roosevelt University.

"It's just a testament to how hard this group worked, and just how tough they are, to make it through everything we've all been through the past two or three years," Monroe said. "Even when this group of sophomores came in, they didn't know what was going to happen, with the pandemic and everything. And to win two national championships, and just get us right back on track, it's pretty incredible."

Corning (N.Y.) Community College infielder Grace Vondracek, who led all divisions with a .626 batting average was named the 2022 NJCAA Division III Softball Player of the Year on Thursday.

There will be a celebration of those special Golden Eagle award winners, as well as the entire RVC softball team at 3 p.m. June 28 in the RVC Student Center Atrium. The festivities are open to the public.

Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rock Valley College softball: Awards, honors after eighth NJCAA title