This is the second time this season that Perryman has been selected as the NSAA Softball Player of the Week. Perryman now has 11 home runs this season and is suddenly flirting with the single-season school record of 15 home runs set by Kelli Unrein in 2006.

North Star Athletic Association Softball Player-of-the-Week
Riley Perryman – Valley City State (N.D.) – 5’7″ – Junior – outfielder – Cottage Grove, Minn. – Perryman hit a tie-breaking 3-run home run in the fifth inning of a 7-4 win over Waldorf (Iowa) for Valley City State (N.D.).  She had a .727 batting average (8-of-11 at the plate), .733 on-base percentage, and a 1.818 slugging percentage after smashing four home runs and recorded four singles.  Perryman drove in eight runs and scored eight times as the Vikings went 5-0 record for the week.

North Star Athletic Association Softball Pitcher-of-the-Week
Jaya Allen – Dickinson State (N.D.) – 5’9″ – Junior – pitcher – Spokane, Wash. – Allen picked up three complete game victories as Dickinson State (N.D.) went 4-1 record for the week.  She recorded 12 strikeouts in the Blue Hawks’ 9-0 road victory at Presentation (S.D.) and collected 15 total strikeouts in three pitching appearances versus Dakota State (S.D.).  Allen surrendered one run (0.26 earned run average) in 26 2/3 innings for the week.  She limited its opponents to 15 total hits and amassed 27 strikeouts for the week.  She only issued two walks.

Recap from last week’s games
Valley City State (N.D.), receiving votes in the latest NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 national poll, extended their winning streak to nine games after going 5-0 record for the week.  The Vikings swept a mid-week North Star doubleheader over Mayville State (N.D.) 10-1 and 5-1 on April 21.  VCSU added a rare NSAA tripleheader sweep over Waldorf (Iowa) on April 24 by the scores of 8-4, 7-4 and 9-0 n five innings.  The Vikings and the Warriors were unable to finish their final game of the four-game series on April 25 due to weather.  Valley City State raised their overall record to 26-5 and currently leads the North Star conference standings by 3.5 games with a 19-2 league record.

Waldorf and Viterbo (Wis.) split their mid-week North Star doubleheader in La Crosse, Wis.  The V-Hawks won the first game by a score of 6-5, followed by the Warriors’ victory in the second game by the score of 12-8.  Waldorf is 8-25 overall record.

Mayville State swept Viterbo in the North Star four-game series in Mayville, N.D. last weekend.  The Comets won 8-0 and 12-4 on April 24, followed by 8-0 and 8-7 five-inning in a rain-shorten four-game series finale on April 25.  Mayville State is 19-15 overall record and currently holds a half-game lead over Dickinson State (N.D.) for third place in the standings with 15-7 record.  Viterbo is 6-32 overall record and 6-18 NSAA conference record (eighth place in the standings).

Bellevue (Neb.) and Dakota State (S.D.) split their mid-week North Star doubleheader on April 22 in Madison, S.D.  The Trojans won the first game by the score of 4-2, followed by the Bruins’ 11-1 five-innings victory in the second game.  BU traveled to Aberdeen, S.D. on April 23-24, earning the NSAA four-game series sweep over Presentation (S.D.).  Bellevue outscored the Saints 50-15 during the four-game series.  Bellevue is 31-18 overall record and currently holds a one-game lead over MSU for second place in the conference standings with 17-7 league record.

Dickinson State defeated Presentation 9-0 in the mid-week NSAA contest on April 20 in Aberdeen.  Both teams were unable to play the second game of the doubleheader due to snow.  Presentation is 7-28 overall record.  Both PC and Waldorf are currently tied for sixth in the conference standings with a 6-17 league record.

The Blue Hawks won the first two games of the North Star tripleheader on April 24, shutting down Dakota State 6-0 and 9-0 in five innings.  The Trojans won the final game of the tripleheader by the score of 7-6.  The Blue Hawks closed out the four-game series with a 4-1 victory on April 25.  Dickinson State is 26-13 overall record and 15-8 NSAA conference record.  Dakota State is 14-28 overall record and 8-16 record in league (fifth place in the conference standings).

Looking Ahead
The North Star Athletic Association is heading into the final week of conference and regular season play this week.  Valley City State (N.D.) visits Mayville State (N.D.) in a mid-week conference doubleheader on Wednesday.  Dakota State (S.D.) travels to Briar Cliff (Iowa), while Waldorf (Iowa) heads to Dordt (Iowa) on the same day for a non-conference doubleheader.

Dakota State continues its action on Thursday with a non-conference at Northwestern (Iowa).

Dickinson State (N.D.) and Mayville State kick off their key NSAA four-game series on Friday and Saturday.  The other conference four-game series are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday with Presentation (S.D.) at Valley City State, Viterbo (Wis.) at Dakota State and Waldorf at Bellevue (Neb.).

The pairings for the North Star Athletic Association softball conference tournament, which will be held in Bellevue, Neb., will be announced on Sunday late evening.  Stay tuned to the NSAA website on www.playnorthstar.com for the tournament bracket and game times.

Wednesday’s Games
(RV) Valley City State (N.D.) @ Mayville State (N.D.) – 1 p.m. – Doubleheader
Dakota State (S.D.) @ Briar Cliff (Iowa) – 3 p.m. – Doubleheader
Waldorf (Iowa) @ Dordt (Iowa) – 4 p.m. – Doubleheader

Thursday’s Games
Dakota State (S.D.) @ Northwestern (Iowa) – 3 p.m. – Doubleheader

Friday’s Games
Dickinson State (N.D.) @ Mayville State (N.D.) – 1 p.m. – Doubleheader

Saturday’s Games
Dickinson State (N.D.) @ Mayville state (N.D.) – 12 p.m. – Doubleheader
Presentation (S.D.) @ (RV) Valley City State (N.D.) – 1 p.m. – Doubleheader
Viterbo (Wis.) @ Dakota State (S.D.) – 1 p.m. – Doubleheader
Waldorf (Iowa) @ Bellevue (Neb.) – 2 p.m. – Doubleheader

Sunday’s Games
Viterbo (Wis.) @ Dakota State (S.D.) – 12 p.m. – Doubleheader
Waldorf (Iowa) @ Bellevue (Neb.) – 12 p.m. – Doubleheader
Presentation (S.D.) @ (RV) Valley City State (N.D.) – 1 p.m. – Doubleheader

2021 NSAA Softball Conference Standings