Kellogg duo earns all-Intermountain League honors

KELLOGG — It was a tough season for the Kellogg Wildcat softball team, but at last week’s district tournament there was a momentary bright spot when Rylee Riekena was named to the Intermountain All-League team.

Riekena, a junior pitcher, had a solid season for the Wildcats, often pitching in back to back games due to a shallow and inexperienced pitching staff — but Riekena performed admirably.

“I am excited because this is my first all-league award,” Riekena said. “I have been close in other sports but always missed out. This means a lot to me.”

Riekena acknowledged the tough season, but has hopes that next year will be different.

“I think we had some attitude issues that needed to be resolved, but weren’t,” Riekena said. “I think next season when myself and the other seniors step up we aren’t going to let that fly.”

As far as team success went, Riekena was more frustrated with the inconsistency than anything else.

“It was frustrating because we would be playing really well and then we’d just give up,” Riekena said, “just one error or mistake and we let the games get away from us.”

With the Wildcats only losing three players to graduation, Riekena believes that next year’s sophomores will grow even more after stepping up in a big way this season.

“Our freshmen stepped up big time for us,” Riekena said. “Jaron (Figueroa) and Erin (Van Hoose) played great and played wherever they were needed and I think they are going to be even better for us next year.”

With an all-leaguer to lead them and a batch of young players on the rise, the Wildcats should be playing for bigger things this time next year.