Vanden Langenberg, Bowlin earn All-Region honors
5/12/2021 2:00:00 PM | Softball
LOUISVILLE, KY - It's been a big day for St. Cloud State University softball teammates Raven Vanden Langenberg (Seymour, Wis. / Seymour) and Brooke Bowlin (Chaska, Minn. / Holy Family). Less than five minutes after earning First Team All-Conference honors from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), the duo was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region teams for the first time in their careers Wednesday afternoon.Â
Vanden Langenberg earned First Team All-Region honors at shortstop, proving she wasn't just the best in the NSIC, but in the entire Central Region as well. In her second season with the Huskies, Vanden Langenberg put up career numbers from start to finish, leading St. Cloud State in batting average throughout the entirety of 2021. Vanden Langenberg hit .441 during the regular season, tallying a team-leading 56 hits in 127 at bats with nine doubles, three triples and three home runs for 80 total bases. In addition to leading the Huskies in batting average and hits, the shortstop ranked top-3 in slugging (.630), on base percentage (.493), RBI (34), doubles (9), triples (3), home runs (3), total bases (80) and walks (10) at the conclusion of the regular season. Entering the NSIC tournament, Vanden Langenberg ranks third in the NISC in batting average and fourth in total hits and OBP.Â
It wasn't just her offensive prowess that impressed the NFCA coaches, as Vanden Langenberg was a force to be reckoned with defensively for the Huskies. As a member of the team's impenetrable left side, the shortstop tallied 62 putouts and 68 assists and committed only five errors at one of the most demanding positions in the field. In two full seasons as the team's starting shortstop, Vanden Langenberg has committed just five errors in 95 career games at the position and earns the region's top honor after missing all of 2020 due to a season ending injury.Â
It was hard to ignore Bowlin's impact during the 2021 season, which is why she was named Second Team All-Region in the outfield. The speedy center fielder posted a .430 batting average during the regular season, tallying 52 hits in 121 at bats as the Huskies lead off hitter. Bowlin also scored a team leading 49 runs and led both the team and conference in triples (6) and stolen bases (31) at the conclusion of the regular season. In her third season with St. Cloud State, Bowlin broke the program record for career stolen bases, stealing the 103rd of her career against MSU-Moorhead in mid-May, and currently holds the school record for single-season stolen bases, which she set in 2019.Â
Like Vanden Langenberg, Bowlin was a defensive stalwart for the Huskies in 2021, as she started every game in either left or center field. Bowlin committed just two errors, both of them throwing, in 40 starts in the outfield and tallied 51 total putouts with two assists.Â
Bowlin and Vanden Langenberg join Maya Keating (Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton-Warrensville) and Jasmin Estrada (Litchfield, Minn. / Litchfield) as the only Huskies to earn All-Region honors since 2011. Additionally, they are just the sixth and seventh student-athletes to earn All-Region honors since the early 2000s.Â
