Apke Garners Third-Team NFCA All-Midwest Region Honors

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- For the third time in program history Bradley softball had a pair of individuals named National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region selections with juniors Allison Apke (Teutopolis) and Kealia Wysocki both garnering Third-Team NFCA All-Mideast Region honors.

Bradley was one of five Missouri Valley Conference squads to have multiple NFCA All-Region picks with the Braves boasting multiple honorees for the third time in the last four years.  Both Apke and Wysocki were NFCA All-Region selections for the first time in their careers.

A Second-Team All-MVC pick in 2019, Apke led the Braves with a .349 batting average and her 12 home runs tied for third most in the MVC this spring.  She was fourth in the MVC with a .675 slugging percentage, which is fifth among Bradley season marks, while her .468 on base percentage was seventh in the Valley this year in addition to ranking seventh in Bradley history.

Apke, who was also a First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete this year, hit .377 and drove in 24 runs during conference action.  She collected hits in 20 of 25 league games and reached base safely in all but two MVC contests.  She broke Bradley’s career home run record this spring and is the only player in program history to have 10 or more homers in two different seasons.  Overall, her 39 RBI in 2019 tied for the ninth-best season total all-time at Bradley.

Apke will enter her senior season eighth in Bradley history with 93 career RBI, while her 57 career walks are tied for sixth.  Maria Schroeder (97) and Kim Suffield (95) are the only players in Bradley Softball history to have more career RBI by the end of their junior seasons than Apke and she is just three home runs from pushing her career total among the top 20 in MVC history.  Apke hit .443 with runners on base and owned a .413 average with runners in scoring position this year.

Wysocki was a First-Team All-MVC selection this spring after crushing a school season record 13 homers to rank second in the conference.  Second on the team with a .349 batting average, she ranked fourth on the squad with a career-best 38 RBI and owned a team-best 26 two-out RBI to go along with a team-best .419 average with runners in scoring position.

A two-time MVC Player of the Week selection in 2019, Wysocki ranked second in the MVC with a school season record .775 slugging percentage with 21 of her 38 hits went for extra bases.  The only player in Bradley history to hit six or more homers in three different seasons, Wysocki ranks second all-time at BU with 26 career home runs, one short of Apke’s record 27 dingers.

Wysocki helped Bradley tie the MVC single-game home run record of eight with the only three-homer game in program history in a victory against San Jose State.  She had 11 multi-hit games and drove in multiple runs in 10 contests.  In MVC play, Wysocki hit .310 with five homers and 15 RBI.

The duo helped Bradley average a MVC season record 5.86 runs per game in addition to combining for 25 of the team’s school season record 68 home runs, which is the fourth-most in Valley history.  The Braves finished with a 29-21 overall mark, to mark the team team’s first winning record since 2007 and most wins dating back to a 29-29 season in 2004.