LEXINGTON, KENT. - To say Abby Spore (Cedar Rapids, Iowa / Kennedy), Kendra Cooper (Lansing, Iowa / Kee) and the Luther College softball team dazzled in 2023 may be a bit of an understatement. With an already stacked trophy case, the Norse duo added one more honor to their resume Wednesday morning, as Spore and Cooper became the 26th and 27th players in program history to garner All-America honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). After a phenomenal junior season, Spore garnered First Team All-America honors and was named the Diamond Sports Co. / NFCA Division III Catcher of the Year, becoming the first Luther catcher to earn the award since Tiffany Kruse in 2010. Meanwhile Cooper earned Third Team All-America honors after an equally strong season in the circle.
Spore put together a season to remember, as she earned First Team All-Conference, NFCA First Team All-Region and College Sports Communicators (CSC) First Team Academic All-District honors before adding NFCA All-America and DIII Catcher of the Year honors to the list. As a junior, Spore was named the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Player of the Year after starting all 43 games for the Norse. She was the top hitter in Luther's line up throughout the entirety of the season, hitting .479 at the end of the regular season with 58 total hits and a .543 on base percentage (OBP). Spore was just as impressive in the playoffs, as she closed the season with a seven game hit streak, which included the A-R-C Tournament and NCAA Regional games. The junior closed the season hitting .474 with a team-leading 64 hits in 135 at bats, including 15 doubles, six home runs, 32 RBI and 97 total bases.
However, it wasn't just Spore's offense that impressed the NFCA. A finalist for the Tucci/NFCA Division III Catcher of the Year award, Spore's defensive stats were nearly as impressive as her offensive stats. As the team's starting catcher, Spore guided the Luther pitching staff to a 33-10 record and 2.17 team earned run average (ERA), with 285 strikeouts in 283.1 innings pitched. She additionally recorded a team-leading 292 putouts with 15 assists and four errors in 311 chances for a fielding percentage of .987. She threw out 12 runners trying to steal a variety of bases, holding opponents to a .765 stolen base percentage in 39 chances.
Cooper's super senior season was stupendous in every sense of the word. The fifth year senior dazzled in the circle, posting a 22-6 record with 27 starts in 29 appearances. Cooper additionally closed 2023 with a 1.73 ERA, surrendering only 55 runs, 43 earned, in 173.2 innings of work. She held opponents to a .188 batting average during the season, and of the 118 hits she gave up, only 18 were for extra bases, as Cooper allowed just nine doubles, three triples and six home runs in 2023. Her performance against A-R-C opponents was equally as dominant, as Cooper was named the conference's Pitcher of the Year for the first time in her illustrious career. Her 10-1 record against conference opponents was the best in the A-R-C, and she ranked top-3 in nearly every pitching statistic, including ERA, wins, complete games, shutouts, strikeouts, and opponent batting average.
Cooper's stats weren't the only impressive thing about her in 2023. Entering the NCAA Regional, the Lansing, Iowa native ranked second in Division III in shutouts (10), eighth in total victories (21), 12th in total strikeouts (191) and 15th in games started (26). Her list of accomplishments and honors is longer than a giraffe's neck, as Cooper earned First Team All-Conference, NFCA First Team All-Region and Third Team All-America honors in addition to being named to the Tucci/NFCA Division III Pitcher of the Year Watchlist. She became the third pitcher in program history to eclipse the 500 strikeout milestone and ranks top-5 all-time in career innings pitched (554.2), career wins (61), career appearances (107), career shutouts (24), career strikeouts (523) and single-season strikeouts (206).
Spore and Cooper are both first-time All-Americans for Luther and join an elite group of Norse softball student-athletes. Spore is the sixth catcher in program history to garner the prestigious honor and the first since Carli Radil garnered second team honors in 2015. Cooper is the eighth pitcher in program history to earn All-America honors and the first since Sam Bratland took home second team honors in 2018. Earlier this season, Cooper also became the first pitcher since Bratland to earn NFCA Division III Pitcher of the Week honors after winning five games over the course of a week, including a sweep of #17 Central.
