Empire 8 Announces 2008 Softball All-Conference Team
May 6, 2008
ROCHESTER, NY – Senior pitcher Carly Myers of Ithaca College, who earned first-team all-conference honors for the fourth consecutive year, was honored as Pitcher of the Year as the Empire 8 announced its Softball All-Conference Team. Shortstops Erica Cutspec of the Bombers and Sara Dresser of conference champion St. John Fisher College shared the Player of the Year award.
Myers, the unanimous selection as the conference’s top pitcher, enters NCAA play with a 17-4 record and a 1.58 earned run average with 103 strikeouts in 124 innings. In regular season Empire 8 play, she won all six of her decisions, yielding two runs and striking out 43 in 36 innings of work.
Cutspec is batting .466 with a team-leading 55 hits, 29 runs scored, nine doubles, four triples, and a .663 slugging percentage. In conference regular season play, she hit .433 with five runs batted in and six runs scored in 10 games.
Dresser enters NCAA play leading the Cardinals with a .444 batting average and the team lead in runs scored (30), home runs (4), RBI (30), and slugging percentage (.667). She led all shortstops in conference regular season play with a .475 batting average with nine runs scored and 10 RBI.
Four other players from Ithaca made the all-conference first team, including senior Jess Stangarone, who was named to the team for the fourth time. She is hitting .337 with 27 runs scored and eight doubles overall after hitting .522 with 12 runs scored in regular season conference play.
Junior Chelsey Feldman, playing her first season of softball, joined first-year players Allison Greaney and Kerry Barger on the all-conference first team for the Bombers. Feldman, the Empire 8 Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year in the fall, leads the team with a .478 batting average, hitting .563 with a conference-best 15 runs scored in regular season Empire 8 play. Barger led all hitters with a .571 average in regular season conference play, while third baseman Greaney hit .405 with 14 runs scored and 11 RBI.
Senior outfielder Nicole Watkins of conference champion St. John Fisher College repeated as a first-team selection. She hit .459 with nine runs scored in regular season conference play and leads the Cardinals in doubles and stolen bases.
Sophomore shortstop Karen Folts and first-year first baseman Ashley Passaro of Alfred University were named to the all-conference first team. Folts hit .375 with 11 RBI in regular season conference play and drove in five runs in the Empire 8 tournament. Passaro, who set a school record with 30 RBI, hit .405 in regular season conference play.
Junior Laura Persico and sophomore pitcher Lisa Nazarenko of Nazareth College, which advanced to the conference tournament in just its second season of play, were named to the all-conference first team. Persico hit .412 with six runs scored, six RBI, four doubles and two home runs in her 12 conference regular season games. Nazarenko posted a 4-3 record with a 3.27 earned run average in conference play, striking out a league-high 58 batters in 41 and one-third innings.
Senior catcher Stephanie Nailos of Rochester Institute of Technology garnered first-team honors, while teammate Emily McPherson was named Rookie of the Year. Nailos scored four runs and drove in four in conference play. McPherson, a shortstop, led the Tigers in nine offensive categories and hit .569 with 22 runs scored and 21 RBI in her final 21 games. She batted .444 in conference play with seven runs scored and seven RBI.
First-year outfielder Kim Martin of Utica College was selected to the all-conference first team after pacing the Pioneers in batting average, hits, runs scored, and stolen bases.
Alfred Head Coach Gino Olivieri was named Coach of the Year after leading the Saxons to the second seed in the conference championship.
2008 Empire 8 Softball Awards
Co-Player of the Year: Erica Cutspec, Ithaca College
Co-Player of the Year: Sara Dresser, St. John Fisher College
Pitcher of the Year: Carly Myers, Ithaca College
Rookie of the Year: Emily McPherson, Rochester Institute of Technology
Coach of the Year: Gino Olivieri, Alfred University