Lapeer’s Conzelmann named All-American, signs with UNOH
Lapeer grad and Mott Community College softball pitcher, Hunter Conzelmann FLINT -- Lapeer’s
Hunter Conzelmann parlayed a brilliant high school career into an even more impressive two-year softball career at
Mott Community
College in Flint.
Conzelmann, who was
First Team
All-Region and
All-Conference while also being named the Lapeer
High School Female
Athlete of the Year for the Lightning, topped those prep accomplishments recently when she was named National
Junior College Athletic Association
(NJCAA) All-American pitcher for the
Lady Bears.
“Hunter was one of three exceptional pitchers for us when she was a freshman and she had a lot to do with our record-breaking season, but as a sophomore, she was asked to carry most of the load as our No. 1 pitcher and she came through with flying colors,” remarked
Mott coach Rod Studaker. “She also just happens to be a great hitter and she was right in the middle of our batting line-up throughout her two years with us.”
Conzelmann was a Second Team All- Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA)-East selection her first year at Mott. She was First Team All- Conference, First Team All-Region and All- American as a sophomore as she went 17-4 with a 1.52 ERA. She batted .363 for the Lady Bears, who finished second in the league and posted an overall mark of 34-13 in 2017. Mott went 44-8 with a league title and a trip to the Nationals in Clinton, Miss. in 2016.
“Hunter is part of a class that is un-matched in accomplishments at Mott. She and her classmates won 78 games, clubbed 68 home runs and was Academic All-American both years with a 3.5 team GPA over the course of the two years they were here,” praised Studaker. “We’ve had some softball All-Americans before at Mott, but the school has had a softball team since 1978 and this is the first pitcher from here to earn All American.”
Conzelmann is not through yet, however.
The business major will continue her softball career at University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) where she will be re-united with a former teammate at Mott from a year ago. Shortstop Kayla Ward, who was also an All-American for Mott as a sophomore in 2016, is now a sophomore at UNOH and she and Hunter will be roommates at the Lima, Ohio university beginning this fall.
That re-union almost didn’t happen.
“About halfway down there, I told my parents to just turn around and go back home, because I was so darn nervous,” says Conzelmann. “But thankfully we kept going and I am glad we did.”
The coaches at UNOH made three trips to the north to watch Conzelmann play this past spring and they rolled out the red carpet upon her arrival at their campus.
“We pulled in and there was a big flashing sign that said, ‘Welcome Hunter Conzelmann’ and then when they took me to their locker room, they had a jersey with my name and number on it, hanging in what is going to be my locker,” says Conzelmann, who will receive a full two-year ride to play at UNOH. “With that kind of welcome and with Kayla already down here, it made this a pretty easy choice.”
Based upon her performance at Lapeer High School and at Mott Community College, it is a safe bet that Hunter Conzelmann will continue to excel at the next level these next two years.