Complete Release (PDF)
MARSHALL, Minn. - The Southwest Minnesota State softball team finished its 2009 campaign with a 32-23 record and 21-5 mark in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play. The Mustangs won their fourth straight regular season NSIC title and fifth in six years. SMSU received the No. 8 seed for the NCAA Central Region Tournament and was eliminated after losing 3-1 to Winona State in the opening round and falling 4-3 in 12 innings to Minnesota State, Mankato in the elimination round.
Letterwinners:
Freshmen (4): Krista Steen, Brittney Hallahan, Christine Borowiak, Amanda Voss
Sophomores (9): Sara Silke, Kristin Braden, Micki Seibring, Janeane Robinson, Nicole Kelley, Courtney Anttila, Kiley Petersen, Ali Honken **Katie Turner received medical redshirt**
Juniors (2): Meaghan Laetsch, Andrea Fennern
Seniors (4): Amanda Burkhart, Amanda Tucci, Amanda Johnson, Jessica Paczosa
Postseason Honors:
All-NSIC: Amanda Burkhart (first team), Amanda Johnson (first team), Amanda Tucci (first team)
NSIC Player of the Year: Amanda Burkhart
NSIC Pitcher of the Year: Amanda Johnson
Academic All-NSIC: Courtney Anttila, Andrea Fennern, Meaghan Laetsch, Jessica, Paczosa, Janeane Robinson, Micki Seibring, Sara Silke
Daktronics All-Central Region: Amanda Burkhart (first team), Amanda Johnson (first team), Amanda Tucci (first team)
Daktronics Central Region Player of the Year: Amanda Burkhart
Daktronics Central Region Pitcher of the Year: Amanda Johnson
Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Central Region: Amanda Burkhart (first team), Amanda Johnson (second team)
Daktronics All-America: Amanda Burkhart (first team)
Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-America: Amanda Burkhart (third team)
All-America honors: Amanda Burkhart’s (Omaha, Neb.) selection to the Daktronics and Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-America teams gained her the bragging rights of being SMSU’s first all-america softball player at the NCAA II level.
Runner-up finish: As the regular season conference champs, SMSU hosted the 2009 NSIC Tournament, falling 3-2 in the championship game to Winona State. The title game ended in thrilling fashion as WSU gunned down SMSU’s Micki Seibring at the plate for the final out of the game to complete a 3-2, comeback victory for the Warriors.
Tournament honors: Right fielder Amanda Burkhart (Omaha, Neb.), left fielder Meaghan Laetsch (Salem, S.D.), designated player Kiley Peterson (Omaha, Neb.) and pitcher Amanda Johnson (Fremont, Neb.) were each honored as NSIC All-Tournament performers for their play. Burkhart collected five RBIs and slammed two home runs on the weekend, giving her a mammoth 18 on the season. Laetsch was an impressive .563 at the plate for SMSU. Peterson hit .455 during the tournament with a home run. Johnson went 3-1, posted a 1.04 ERA, struckout 31 and held opponents to a .165 batting average in 27.0 innings pitched.
Rank ‘em: SMSU was picked to finish third in the NSIC Preseason Poll as voted on by the league’s 14 head coaches. The Mustangs received 164 points in the poll, just one point behind the No. 2 team, Minnesota State. SMSU also received three first-place votes.
Head Coach Shawn Semler: Shawn Semler finished his sixth season as head coach of Southwest Minnesota State in 2009. In his past three seasons at SMSU, the Mustangs are an impressive 68-8 in conference games. Semler, a three-time NSIC Coach of the Year, has led the SMSU softball team to five regular season conference championships and four NCAA Tournament appearances in his six-year tenure.
Semler has a 194-116 record at SMSU and a 364-214 record overall at the collegiate level. He has coached 15 diferent first team All-NSIC players, a four-time NSIC Pitcher of the Year, and two different NSIC Players of the Year.
Semler has also coached SMSU's first-ever NCAA All-Region players and All-America honorees. In both the 2006 and 2007 seasons, he had one player earn first team NFCA All-Region honors and one individual earn second team all-region accolades. Also in 2007, four players earned Daktronics All-Region, with two making the first team and two making the second team. In 2008, pitcher Amanda Johnson and catcher Erin Dickhausen both earned all-region honors from both AFCA and Daktronics. 2009 saw SMSU land three players named to the Dakotroincs All-Region team and another two to the NFCA squad. Johsnon was named Daktronics Central Region Pitcher of the Year, while Amanda Burkhart was named Daktronics Central Region Player of the Year and garnered SMSU’s first All-America honors.
Semler, the eighth head coach in SMSU history, spent six years at the College of Saint Mary in Omaha, Neb., posting an overall record of 170-98 (.634). Semler also spent four years as the head softball coach at Marian High School (Neb.).
Prior to his coaching career, Semler received his bachelor’s degree in secondary physical education and special education at Peru State College (Neb.) in 1991. He was a four-year starter for the Peru State baseball team, where he was the first player to be named All-America in school history. In 2000, Semler then received his master’s degree at Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass., in computer technology. He began his coaching career at Bellevue East High School where he took over the reigns of a struggling program (4-20 his first season). After Semler implemented Bellevue’s first girls’ fastpitch summer organization for high school players, the Chieftains showed signs of improvement moving to a mark of 14-16 in Semler’s third season.
At Marian High School, Semler was the head softball coach while also teaching physical education, weightlifting and computer application classes. During his stay at Marian, he helped the Crusaders to an 83-53 record including state final top-10 ranking three of his four seasons.
Semler lives in Marshall with his wife, Dani, and son, Toby.