{"id":205978,"date":"2026-05-18T08:09:59","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T13:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=205978"},"modified":"2026-05-18T15:53:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T20:53:29","slug":"spear-named-nwc-poy-schwab-coy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/05\/18\/spear-named-nwc-poy-schwab-coy\/","title":{"rendered":"Spear named NWC POY, Schwab COY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VW independent sports<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lincolnview\u2019s Lainey Spear has piled up some impressive numbers this spring, which caught the attention of conference coaches. In balloting done by NWC, Spear, Lincolnview\u2019s only softball senior, was named NWC Player of the Year. Playing in all 23 games and counting, Spear is batting .541 with 40 hits, including 18 singles, 10 doubles, a triple and 11 home runs. She has 47 RBIs and holds school records for career home runs and RBIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the third straight season, Lincolnview\u2019s Eric Schwab has been named NWC Coach of the Year. It\u2019s also the fourth time in five seasons he\u2019s earned the honor.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Lainey Spear is the 2026 NWC softball Player of the Year. Photo submitted<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Joining Spear on the All-NWC first team is teammate Ila Hughes, who was last year\u2019s NWC Player of the Year, and a pair of freshmen, Emme Stevens and Ansley Schwab. Another freshman, Bella Hire was named second team All-NWC, while classmate Avery Hoaglin and junior Kassidy Hammons were named honorable mention All-NWC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crestview\u2019s Dakota Thornell was named first team All-NWC and teammates Kaci Gregory and Violet Dirr were named second team all conference. Alli Thatcher and Kylie Williams were named honorable mention All-NWC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Team All-NWC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lainey Spear, Sr., Lincolnview<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ila Hughes, So., Lincolnview<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carolyn Mueller, Sr., Delphos Jefferson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dakota Thornell, Sr., Crestview<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erianne Heffner, Sr., Columbus Grove<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harper Friesner, So., Allen East<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emme Stevens, Fr., Lincolnview<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Corie Schnieders, Fr., Lima Central Catholic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elise Litsey, Jr., Spencerville<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Macy Schaadt, Sr., Bluffton<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peyton Worcester, So., Bluffton<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ansley Schwab, Fr., Lincolnview<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Team All-NWC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claire Brinkman, Jr., Delphos Jefferson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaci Gregory, Jr., Crestview<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dakota Dunn, Sr Columbus Grove<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bronwyn Schaefer, Sr., Allen East<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sondra Clum, Sr., Allen East<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hailey Hittle, Sr., Spencerville<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Violet Dirr, Sr., Crestview<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greta Myers, Jr., Bluffton<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bella Hire, Fr., Lincolnview<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carolina Kill, Sr., Lima Central Catholic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honorable Mention All-NWC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ky Eberle, Jr., Delphos Jefferson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avery Hoaglin, Fr., Lincolnview<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriella King, Jr., Spencerville<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kassidy Hammons, Jr., Lincolnview<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophia Hurley, Sr., Lima Central Catholic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Madie Miller, Jr., Allen East<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexis Post, So., Spencerville<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karleigh Davis, Sr., Bluffton<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Courtney VanMeter, Sr., Lima Central Catholic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lauren Wireman, Jr., Allen East<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Audrey Violet, Sr., Delphos Jefferson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alli Thatcher, Jr., Crestview<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gianna Lee, Jr., Delphos Jefferson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kylie Williams, Jr., Crestview<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Player of the Year:<\/strong> Lainey Spear, Sr., Lincolnview<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coach of the Year:<\/strong> Eric Schwab, Lincolnview<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VW independent sports Lincolnview\u2019s Lainey Spear has piled up some impressive numbers this spring, which caught the attention of conference coaches. In balloting done by NWC, Spear, Lincolnview\u2019s only softball senior, was named NWC Player of the Year. Playing in all 23 games and counting, Spear is batting .541 with 40 hits, including 18 singles, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-26 01:48:12","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205978"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":206014,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205978\/revisions\/206014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}