VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Valley City senior pitcher Hailey Schaefer was awarded the title of 2021 North Dakota All-Star. The rosters were announced last Monday which consists of 28 All-Stars from across the state.

Schaefer has climbed a long way to get to where she is now after tearing her ACL last summer. Since then, she has not only been striking out hitters left and right but she’s been getting it done at the plate all season long too. Schaefer boasts a staggering .567 batting average with 34 hits on 60 at-bats. She’s also gone deep six times this year with 33 RBI. On the mound, her ERA stands at 2.94 with a sensational 110 strikeouts in 69 innings with just 11 walks.

Schaefer said that becoming a North Dakota All-Star is a milestone that she has been striving for. “When you’re younger, that’s what you look up to,” Schaefer said. “Just to know that your hard work can get you there is pretty nice to hear.”

Schaefer spoke highly of her Valley City teammates who have been supportive of her through getting past her injury. “They’ve been good with making sure I take things easy and trying to make things easier for me,” Schaefer said. “They’ve been really supportive and great this year.”

Schaefer also credits her successes to her coaches Hillary Flatt, who is on leave for the remainder of the season, and coach Ryan Leroux who is filling in at the head coaching spot currently. “It’s definitely different this year with Hillary being gone,” Schaefer said. “At the beginning [of the season] she was really supportive. She still comes to games which is nice. Ryan has been really good at taking over and making sure we’re doing what we need to do.”

Coach Leroux has all but flawlessly filled in for Flatt and has put the team in contention to make the state tournament in June. Leroux is proud of how far Schaefer has come in such a short amount of time.

Schaefer plans to attend the University of Jamestown next year and pursue a degree in education along with continuing her softball career. Leroux hopes to stay in touch with Schaefer after this season with Jamestown being just a half-hour down I-94. “They are the rival or used to be the rival so we will be keeping an eye on her anyway,” Leroux said. “I’m wishing her the best. They don’t need to win every game, but I hope she has a good outing every time.”

The All-Star series will be held at the Bismarck Public Schools Athletic Complex on June 7th-8th.