Story courtesy of Christa Parulis-Kaye, NECC Assistant Commissioner for Media Relations
For Immediate Release:
May 6, 2010
ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Eight of the nine sponsored programs were represented on 2010 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Softball All-Conference Team, it was announced today by Commissioner Del Malloy. In addition to the All-NECC honors, four separate major individual award winners and the team sportsmanship award were also voted upon and selected this week.
Bay Path College senior outfielder Sara Gates (Crown Point, N.H.), an occupational therapy major, was named the 2010 NECC Softball Player of the Year. In conference play, Gates played and started all 16 games with a .588 batting average and a .784 slugging percentage. She led the NECC in batting average (.588) and hits (30), second in on-base percentage (.651), second in doubles (8), second in walks (11), third in slugging percentage (.784) and fourth in runs scored (20). Defensively, Gates had 27 putouts, four assists and only two errors for a .939 fielding percentage. Gates is currently second in the nation in overall batting average (.545) and third in on-base percentage (.607).
The Lesley Lynx took top honors as they finished 15-1 in conference play earning the top seed for the 2010 NECC Softball Championship. Lesley University sophomore pitcher Cassandra Knox (Sea Cliff, N.Y.) nabbed the 2010 NECC Softball Pitcher of the Year for her 14-1 record in conference play. Knox, a child and family studies major with a minor in education, led all hurlers in the NECC with a 2.07 ERA for her 81.1 innings pitched. In conference play, she had one shutout while fanning 67 batters, while only walking 28 batters.
Elms College freshman infielder Sarah Buckley (Wilbraham, Mass.) nabbed the 2010 NECC Softball Rookie of the Year for her first season of collegiate play. Buckley, a nursing major, graduated from Minnechaug Regional. She played and started in all 16 conference contests. Buckley finished 10th in the NECC for batting (.442), first in triples (4), and first in the NECC for fielding percentage (1.000). She tallied 67 put-outs and four assists including two double plays.
Buckley was joined by her head coach Cheryl Condon for top conference honors. Condon was named the 2010 NECC Softball Coach of the Year, she has earned six previous conference Coach of the Year honors one in the NECC and five in the NAC. She led the Blazers to a 17-15 overall record and a 14-2 mark in conference play this season. Elms grabbed the #2 seed in the 2010 NECC Softball Championship.
The Nighthawks of Newbury, led by head coach Christine Grenache, were honored as the 2010 NECC Team Sportsmanship Award recipients. The Nighthawks earned a post-season appearance this season with 12-22 overall record and 5-11 in the NECC nabbing the #6 seed.
Voting for the All-NECC team and each of the major awards was
conducted among all NECC Softball coaches.
Joining Gates and Knox on All-NECC First Team were
Bay Path's sophomore (1B) Maeghan Whitcomb (Lyndon,
VT.); Daniel Webster's junior (2B) Amy
Waller (Berlin, Mass.); Daniel Webster's junior
(3B) Amanda Varricchio (Middletown, Conn.); Elms'
sophomore (SS) Jenna Lipscomb (Cambridge, Mass.);
Lesley's junior (OF) Alyson
Durben (Stow, Mass.); Daniel Webster's freshman
(OF) Chelsey Crawford (Westfield, Mass.); Mitchell's
sophomore (P) Arielle Torres (Emerson, N.J.); Lesley's
junior (DP) Ashley
Cunningham (Mountain Top, Penn.) and Newbury's
sophomore (DP) Olga Cepeda(Boston, Mass.).
Joining Buckley on second team were 11 other student-athletes including Lesley's senior (1B)Georgia Saltzman (Lynn, Mass.); Elms' senior (2B) Ally Graffum (Ipswich, Mass.); Wheelock's Junior (3B) Nicole Zina (Bristol, R.I.); Daniel Webster's senior (SS) Kristina Reiger (Concord, N.H.); Lesley's freshman(OF) Emily Mangiaratti (Amherst, Mass.); Southern Vermont's junior (OF) Kayla Whitman (Bennington, Vt.); Elms' sophomore Marlene DiRaimo (Cranston, R.I.); Newbury's freshman (P) Katie O'Hara (Abingdon, Md.); Elms' sophomore (P) Cassandra Knox (Sea Cliff, N.Y.); Mitchell's senior(C ) Sara Krolikowski (Bristol, Conn.) and Elms' senior (C) Tiffany Williams (Berlin, Conn.).
Four players received honorable mention honors including Bay Path's senior (2B) Samantha Gunseth (Swanzey, N.H); Mitchell's sophomore (2B) Nikki Hoxie (Winsted, Conn..); Mitchell's freshman (3B) Meghan Burke (Bronx, N.Y.) and Newbury's senior (SS ) Katelyn Mark (Quincy, Mass.).
2010 NECC SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE
YEAR: Sarah Gates, Bay Path, SR (Crown Point,
Ind.)
2010 NECC SOFTBALL PITCHER OF THE
YEAR: Cassandra Knox, Lesley, SO (Sea Cliff,
N.Y.)
2010 NECC SOFTBALL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Sarah
Buckley, Elms, FR (Wilbraham, Mass.)
2010 NECC SOFTBALL COACH OF THE YEAR: Cheryl
Condon, Elms
2010 NECC SOFTBALL TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP
AWARD: Newbury Nighthawks
2010 ALL-NECC SOFTBALL FIRST TEAM
FIRST BASE: Maeghan Whitcomb, Bay Path, SO (Lyndon, Vt.)
SECOND BASE: Amy Waller, Daniel Webster, JR (Berlin, Mass.)
THIRD BASE: Amanda Varricchio, Daniel Webster, JR (Middletown,
Conn.)
SHORT STOP: Jenna Lipscomb, Elms, SO (Cambridge, Mass.)
OUTFIELD: Alyson Durben, Lesley, JR (Stow, Mass.)
OUTFIELD: Sarah Gates, Bay Path, JR (Crown Point, Ind.)
OUTFIELD: Chelsey Crawford, Daniel Webster, FR (Westfield,
Mass.)
PITCHER: Cassandra Knox, Lesley, FR (Sea Cliff, N.Y.)
PITCHER: Arielle Torres, Mitchell, SO (Emerson, N.J.)
CATCHER: Jodi
Fralick, Lesley, SR (Woburn, Mass.)
DESIGNATED PLAYER: Ashley Cunningham, Lesley, JR (Mountain Top,
Penn.)
DESIGNATED PLAYER: Olga Cepeda, Newbury, SO (Boston, Mass.)
2010 ALL-NECC SOFTBALL SECOND TEAM
FIRST BASE: Sarah Buckley, Elms, FR (Wilbraham, Mass.)
FIRST BASE: Georgia Saltzman, Lesley, SR (Lynn, Mass.)
SECOND BASE: Ally Graffum, Elms, SR (Ipswich, Mass.)
THIRD BASE: Nicole Zina, Wheelock, JR (Bristol, R.I.)
SHORT STOP: Kristina Reiger, Daniel Webster, SR (Concord,
N.H.)
OUTFIELD: Emily Mangiaratti, Lesley, FR (Amherst, Mass.)
OUTFIELD: Kayla Whitman, Southern Vermont, JR (Bennington,
Vt.)
OUTFIELD: Marlene DiRaimo, Elms, SO (Cranston, R.I.)
PITCHER: Katie O'Hara, Newbury, FR (Abingdon, Md.)
PITCHER: Courtney Hampton, Elms, SO (Westfield, Mass.)
CATCHER: Sara Krolikowski, Mitchell, SR (Bristol, Conn.)
CATCHER: Tiffany Williams, Elms, SR (Berlin, Conn.)
2010 ALL-NECC SOFTBALL HONORABLE MENTION
Nicole Hoxie, Mitchell, SO, 2B (Winsted, Conn.)
Samantha Gunseth, Bay Path, SR, 2B (Swanzey, N.H.)
Meghan Burke, Mitchell, FR, 3B (Bronx, N.Y.)
Katelyn Mark, Newbury, SR, SS (Quincy, Mass.)