Bismarck  (NSAA) – The North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) announced its 2021 Softball All-Conference Teams, Gold Glove team and postseason awards Monday. 

The NSAA Softball All-Conference Teams, Gold Glove Team and postseason awards were voted by the league coaches.  The 2021 NSAA All-Conference First Team consists of 30 recipients, 20 on the first team and 10 on the second team.  The Champions of Character recipients were also announced.

Valley City State (N.D.) landed nine recipients on the All-Conference Teams, seven recipients on the First Team.  Bellevue (Neb.) has a total of six individuals on the All-Conference teams.

The North Star also announced its 9-member Gold Glove team for displaying their outstanding defensive performance.

In NSAA postseason awards, Emily Smith of Valley City State was selected as Pitcher-of-the-Year for the second straight season.  Makenzee Stone of VCSU and Xitlali Lopez of Dakota State (S.D.) were chosen as Co-Player-of-the-Year.  Stone also was selected as the Newcomer-of-the-Year.  Mark Mattson of Valley City State was named to the NSAA Softball Coach-of-the-Year after guiding his squad to an impressive 25-2 conference record as the Vikings collected their second straight NSAA regular-season title.

Dickinson State (N.D.) went undefeated in the postseason tournament in Bellevue, Neb.  The Blue Hawks claimed the tournament title by defeating Valley City State 4-3 on May 8, earning the league’s automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round scheduled for May 17-19.