Buckholz Headlines OIT Quartet on Softball All

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Maggie Buckholz was selected as the seventh consensus first-team All-America selection in Oregon Tech softball history, headlining a stellar group of Lady Owl award winners, as the NAIA and National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced their 2023 All-America teams.

Buckholz joins Brenda (Ruppel) Mick (1998), Meagan Webber (2000, 2001), Leah Azevedo (2002), Tara Moates (2015, 2017), Ali Graham (2019) and Sarah Abramson (2021, 2022) as first-team selections by both the NAIA and NFCA. She was also named to the first-ever Rawlings NAIA All-America Gold Glove team.

Both Kacie Schmidt and Kaila Mick were honored by both associations as All-Americans, while Puakea Milbourne was honored as part of the NAIA All-America Gold Glove team.

Buckholz had a banner senior season, leading the squad with a .413 batting average, hitting 10 home runs, with 15 doubles, eight triples and 71 RBI – ranking in the Top-10 nationally in hits, triples and RBI. She also went through the entire regular-season without an error in the outfield – finishing with one error in 108 defensive chances.

Schmidt, the Cascade Conference Pitcher of the Year, earned first-team NAIA and second-team NFCA All-America honors. The sophomore was a catalyst in the circle, finishing 29-2 with 195 strikeouts and a 1.76 ERA – ranking third nationally in wins, tying the OIT single-season wins mark.

Kaila Mick earned second-team honors from both the NAIA and NFCA, becoming the tenth OIT player to earn All-America honors during two different seasons – a group that includes her mother, Brenda (Ruppel) Mick, a 1997 and 1998 NAIA All-American. The junior, who previously earned All-America honors in 2021, finished the 2023 season hitting .387 with 21 doubles, 25 stolen bases and 48 RBI, ranking in the Top-10 nationally in hits and runs – setting a new school record with 69 runs scored.

Milbourne joins the inaugural Gold Glove class after a banner season as the Lady Owls everyday first baseman. The freshman was the lone player in the NAIA to record over 400 defensive chances on the season without an error – breaking the OIT single-season fielding percentage record (most chances without an error).

NAIA All-America First-Team: Annalise Wood (Georgia Gwinnett), Allie Puente (Hope International), Jayna Witzany (Mount Mercy), Kira Baker (Baker), Kacie Schmidt (Oregon Tech), Cassandra Valdez (Our Lady of the Lake), Sophie Williams (Science & Arts), Jaclyn Gray (Science & Arts), Riley Donovan (Southern Oregon), Reese Floro (Bellevue), Haley Loffer (College of Idaho), Savannah Harweger (Marian), Gwen Mikkelsen (Northwestern), Analise Rayburn (Oklahoma City), Lilliana Martinez (Bethany), Makenzie Keatts (Cumberlands), Autumn Oehlstrom (Indiana Southeast), Maggie Buckholz (Oregon Tech), Lindzie Owen (Georgia Gwinnett), Bryce Peacock (Coastal Georgia)

NAIA All-America Second-Team: Talli Burgess (Cumberlands), Kaylie Hoskins (Eastern Oregon), Shelby Cornelson (Oklahoma City), Lauren Johnson (Cottey), Carolyn Dallimore (Friends), Aryana Palencia (Cottey), Bailey Turnbow (Cumberlands), Roni Foote (Midland), Kaila Mick (Oregon Tech), Deja Acosta (Southern Oregon), Kelena Oots (Central Methodist), Shannon McAlinden (Concordia), Emily Prai (Midland), Haley Lyner (Point), Ella Koster (Dordt), Emmalee Hamp (Spring Arbor), Sydney Pelaez (Georgia Gwinnett), Olivia Stunkel (Marian), Kaylie Williams (Vanguard), Hayley Dickerson)

NFCA All-America First-Team: Annalise Wood (Georgia Gwinnett), Allie Puente (Hope International), Kira Baker (Baker), Cassandra Valdez (Our Lady of the Lake), Sydney Pelaez (Georgia Gwinnett), Jaclyn Gray (Science & Arts), Bailey Turnbow (Cumberlands), Analise Rayburn (Oklahoma City), Roni Foote (Midland), Haley Loffer (College of Idaho), Deja Acosta (Southern Oregon), Kelena Oots (Central Methodist), Savannah Harweger (Marian), Maggie Buckholz (Oregon Tech), Makenzie Keatts (Cumberlands), Madison Nunn (Our Lake of the Lake), Bryce Peacock (Coastal Georgia)

NFCA All-America Second-Team: Kacie Schmidt (Oregon Tech), Talli Burgess (Cumberlands), Aliyah Rincon (Midland), Jordyn Ball (Central Methodist), Ella Schouten (Columbia), Carolyn Dallimore (Friends), Riley Donovan (Southern Oregon), Sierra Norman (Marian), Carly Oliver (Cumberlands), Gwen Mikkelsen (Northwestern), Carly Pfitzer (Midland), Kaila Mick (Oregon Tech), Chelsea Kurtz (Avila), Lexi Miller (Campbellsville), Autumn Oehlstrom (Indiana Southeast), Emily Prai (Midland), Katelyn Kiser (Central Methodist)