Darian Bender/Photos by Noah Clooten
Darian Bender and Maggie Bender, two unrelated players from Lake Region State College softball, were named to this year’s Mon-Dak All-Conference Team.
When considering pitching and offense, Darian was statistically the Royals’ most valuable player this season. She led the team in hits with 56, while batting .397 with a .459 OBP. In the circle, she posted a team-best 5.80 ERA. She threw 107 1/3 of the team’s 257 2/3 total innings. She was a leader of the squad both on and off the field, as one of the few sophomores on the club.
Maggie, meanwhile, was the team’s most productive hitter, particularly in the power department. The freshman didn’t tally quite as many at-bats as Darian — 119 to 141 — but she batted .437 with a .477 OBP and a massive .739 slugging percentage. She hit six of the team’s 15 home runs, and had a team-high 22 extra-base hits. She also pitched, though things didn’t go as well for her with a 14.68 ERA in 44 1/3 innings.
LRSC wound up finishing sixth out of seven teams in the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference, and was eliminated on the second day of the playoffs. The Royals batted .291/.349/.401 as a team and were fifth in the conference in runs.
Darian’s softball career came to an end with a .382/.457/.508 batting line over two seasons with LRSC. She struck out 82 batters in 42 career pitching appearances. The Wisconsin native came over to Devils Lake and had a successful run with the Royals, though she said during the season that she’s not planning to continue playing after this year.
Maggie will try to help lead a large group of returning players next season, as the Royals look to continue building and refining their program.
