Thursday

Thursday, May 12, 2005

TUFTS DOMINATES 2005 ALL-NESCAC SOFTBALL AWARDS

MEDFORD – The Tufts University Softball team took Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year and placed five players on the First and Second Teams when the All-New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) teams were announced on Wednesday.

Senior shortstop Courtney Bongiolatti (Locust, NJ/Middletown) was the fifth straight Jumbo to earn conference Player of the Year honors. Danielle Lopez (Danvers, MA/Danvers) was voted NESCAC Rookie of the Year for her play at second base. Cheryl Milligan was tabbed Coach of the Year after leading Tufts to the East Division title and hosting rights to the conference tournament.

Freshman catcher Megan Cusick (Albany, NY/Albany) joined Bongiolatti and Lopez on the All-NESCAC First Team. The Second Team included Tufts freshman designated player/pitcher Erica Bailey (Scottsdale, AZ/Chaparral) and senior Katie Smith (Convent Station, NJ/Morristown) at first base.

Bongiolatti leads NESCAC with 14 home runs, 45 runs batted in and 93 total bases, all Tufts records. She hit .374 (fifth in the conference), including .417 with five home runs and 14 runs batted in during eight NESCAC East Division games. In the second game of an important double-header sweep at Bowdoin on April 16, Bongiolatti went 3 for 4 with two home runs and six runs batted in. She also hit two home runs in a divisional game at Colby on April 30. For her career, Bongiolatti tied the Tufts record with 32 home runs and tied the all-time RBIs record with 123.

Lopez leads NESCAC in hits with 44 and is fourth in the conference with a .379 batting average. Her 26 runs scored, 27 runs batted in, eight home runs and 76 total bases are all among the top five in NESCAC. She compiled a sharp .964 fielding percentage, including just one error in NESCAC East games. In the first game of the double-header at Bowdoin on April 16, she was 2 for 4 with a home run and four RBIs. She also homered in game one of a divisional double-header at Trinity on April 29.

Cusick was excellent behind the plate and superb at bat against divisional opponents this spring. In addition to hitting .302 with three home runs and 12 RBIs overall, she had just two passed balls, picked off three runners and did not make an error in 21 starts behind the plate. In seven conference games, she hit .474 with seven runs batted in.

Bailey was a force in the pitcher's circle and at the plate. She led Tufts with a 1.58 earned run average and 62 innings pitched while compiling a 7-3 record with two shutouts. At bat, she was among the NESCAC leaders with eight home runs, 29 RBIs and 63 total bases while hitting .337. She won both of her starts against NESCAC East teams and hit .381 with two home runs and seven RBIs in league games.

Smith, the NESCAC and ECAC New England Player of the Year last season, finished at .339 with four home runs and 20 runs batted in. She again was very smooth at first base with a .985 fielding percentage. She was 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs in a victory at NESCAC East foe Trinity on April 29. Along with fellow co-captain Bongiolatti, this is the third straight season Smith has earned All-NESCAC honors.

Milligan, a former shortstop and assistant coach at Tufts, rebuilt the team after a disappointing 16-16 finish last spring. Adding a freshman class that included Lopez, Cusick and Bailey, among others, to a veteran core led by Bongiolatti and Smith, Tufts returned to the top of the region. The Jumbos finished with a 27-8 record and were ranked 23^rd in the most recent National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III Top 25.