By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

Through the first 24 games of the softball season, the Thomas More Prep-Marian team went undefeated and outscored opponents 256-5. Senior pitcher Maddie Holub worked more than 74 straight no-hit innings, including four perfect games, while she, junior Kaylee Hofffman and senior outfielder Alicia Hammeke all hit over .500.

In the Class 3A state semifinal game against Silver Lake, the Monarchs saw their 43-game winning streak end with a 2-1 loss. Holub allowed a game-winning hit in the seventh, one of three hits she allowed at state. TMP-Marian, which had won the previous two softball crowns, won the third place game and finished 25-1. The loss kept the Monarchs from a third straight championship, but didn't trump outstanding seasons from multiple Monarchs.

"It was a complete letdown the way it ended, but other than that, we were as successful as we have ever been regardless of whether we had won state," Holub said. "We have had a perfect regular season. The final game was ouch, it's not how we wanted it to play out. Other than that, we just had a great season overall."

The Monarchs still set school records for wins in a season (25) and consecutive victories (24), and Holub, Hoffman, Hammeke and junior catcher Sophia Schippers all earned all-state honors.

"We had a great team obviously, we just didn't have a chance to show how great of a team we had at state," Hoffman said.

Holub earned first team all-state honors for her third straight season and picked up all-state awards in all four years.

"It is a great accomplishment," Holub said.

"It just shows how hard I worked. I really think I improved throughout my four years at TMP, so getting all-state was kind of a reassurance that I did the job that I was supposed to do, so it makes me feel really good."

Hoffman was named first team for the third straight year, while Hammeke earned a repeat selection on the first team. Schippers, in her first full year of starting at the varsity level and her first year at any level catching, was second team.

"I think you have to get to the top four to pretty much get on the all-state team two years in a row," head coach Alan Billinger said.

"It speaks well and without us being there, they would not have had that opportunity. Both says a lot about their talent individually."

In addition, Hays High School senior center fielder Whitney Montgomery led the Indians to a 12-8 record and a trip to the Class 5A regional championship game and picked up first team Class 5A all-state honors. It marked Montgomery's first year on the all-state team.

Holub delivered one of the best seasons, statistically, in Kansas history and finished with multiple state records. Holub either broke or tied marks for career perfect games, season batting average, season hits, career hits, career RBIs, career homers, career earned-run average and doubles in a game. The right-hander finished with an 11-1 record and 0.18 ERA, 171 strikeouts in 79 innings and just two runs allowed -- both against Silver Lake in the state tournament. She hit .695 wit 57 hits, 12 homers, 48 RBIs, an .842 on-base percentage and a 1.451 slugging percentage. Billinger, a veteran of more than four decades in the prep and amateur ranks, called Holub's year the best individual season he had ever seen, while Garden City coach John Ford named Holub the top pitcher in his coaching tenure. Most importantly, though, Holub was happy that people recognized the team's accomplishments. In her career, TMP-Marian finished 93-10, went to state all four years and won two titles.

"People would come up to me and congratulate me on the season," Holub said. "My stats just pretty much showed just how great of a season I had, but I think more people would come up to me and talk to me about the team."

Holub, a Fort Hays State University signee, was considered, along with Andover Central pitcher Nikki Armagost, as the top two players in Kansas this spring. Armagost, a Division I signee with Pacific, won the Gatorade Player of the Year award.

"It means a lot. To have recognition state wide, I am glad I do. Nikki Armagost is a really great player," Holub said. "Just to have people respect me that much as a player, for me to be nominated like that, it feels real good."

Hoffman nearly matched Holub's numbers with the best season of her three-year career. After early season struggles left her with a .400 average and two homers after eight games, Hoffman went 33-for-56 (.589) with nine homers in the team's last 17 games. That included three homers in one game against Scott City, a feat that tied a state record.

"I knew that we couldn't get to state or anything with just one player, or just two players," she said. "We need everyone. I had that little slump and I just told myself that I needed to get out of that."

Overall, Hoffman finished with a career-best .531 average with 11 homers, 44 RBIs and a team-high 46 runs. On the mound, she went 12-0 with a 0.36 ERA and 102 strikeouts against three walks in 572âÑ3 innings.

"There is no doubt that over the three years that she has pitched that this has been her best year this past year," Billinger said. "I think that she was really more focused. I think that after playing in the state tournament her freshman year and the experience that she gets in the summer time, that lends a lot to her maturity this year."

Hoffman was one of four players, along with Rock Creek's Dana Elliot, St. Marys' Laura Kinderknecht and Lansing's Brittany Lang, to earn first team all-state in basketball and softball this season. Billinger called her one of the best all-around athletes in the state after Hoffman helped the two teams go 47-2.

"When you look at her abilities and what she has accomplished in basketball and softball, I think she has done wonders," Billinger said. "She is just a tremendous athlete that runs on high octane all the time. It speaks very well of her ability. She accomplishes all of this because she works so hard, she is one of the hardest working girls that I have ever coached."

"Obviously we wanted to get state basketball and state softball and those awards would have meant more if we had gotten both," Hoffman added.

Hammeke, also a Fort Hays signee, enjoyed a .532 average, four homers and 27 RBIs and was healthy after being plagued by injuries in past years. She hit nearly 100 points higher and three more homers than her junior year.

"She was healthy all year," Billinger said. "I still think what helped her was that she was going to play college softball. She was a little bit more focused and determined this year and had a bigger goal. Not just high school ball, but so she could improve herself so she could be ready for college."

After MaKenzie Altman transferred to Hays High, Schippers became the new starting catcher after seeing just one inning of high school catching experience in past seasons. After just 19 at-bats as a sophomore, she enjoyed a strong season when she hit .359 with five homers in 64 at-bats.

"I never thought I would be a catcher," Schippers said. "I don't think anyone expected (the power). I didn't either."

Defensively, she effectively handled a pitching staff that allowed just five earned runs all season.

"To do it full time and to handle the staff that we have, I thought that she just did an amazingly fantastic job for us," Billinger said.

"As far as the batting was concerned, I think she showed a lot of power."

At HHS, Montgomery established herself as one of Class 5A's best players when she led the Indians in multiple statistics.

The team's starting center fielder, she hit .460 with a team-high 29 hits, .541 on-base percentage, three triples, 38 total bases and 25 runs scored, statistics among the best in Class 5A. Among players with more than 40 at-bats, she was the only Indian to hit over .400.

"Her pitch selection was good," Maska said. "Whitney really got herself where if she was consistent enough that if the pitcher was going to bring the ball around the plate, she would get a good bat on it. I think that was key for her success at the plate. She did a really good job of staying on the ball. She had a really linear swing."

Montgomery picked up first team all-WAC honors for the second straight year and worked constantly with her dad, Tom, one of the Indian assistant coaches.

"Whitney, working in the offseason, she got stronger as she progressed through high school and just a combination of just getting stronger and growing and the hours working with her dad, I think that was really key to her success this season," Maska said.

Montgomery also delivered an incredible catch against Great Bend when she caught the ball, crashed and knocked down part of the center field fence and held onto the ball.

Maska often told the story to coaches. According to Maska, Montgomery received the second-most votes of any Class 5A player.

"I just think that is an example of the kind of player that Whitney is, the kind of athleticism that she has," Maska said. "... Her athleticism is what set her apart from a lot of the other outfielders in our class."