The Iowa Girls Coaches Association recently released its 2012 softball All-State Teams, which included five Jasper County players. They had two receive first-team honors, one on a second team and two on a third team.

The honors were led by a Class 4A First-Team All-State honor for Newton senior pitcher Courtney Meyer and a Class 3A First Team honor for Prairie City-Monroe junior outfielder Kelsey Townsend.

Meyer, who has anchored the Cardinals’ defense the last four years, made second team all-state last year, as well as in her 2009 freshman season and is a two-time all-district player. She started 26 of Newton’s 33 games this season, posting a 16-10 record while throwing 1731⁄3 innings. Entering the Cardinals’ final game of the season, she had an ERA of 1.56 and her opponents’ batting average was .184, totaling 156 strikeouts. At the plate, she led the team in hits (44), doubles (12), RBI (23), walks (19) and had 10 home runs. Her season-long batting average was .512 and her on-base percentage was a staggering .600.