ORONO, MAINE — UMBC's Melanie Denischuk (Player of the Year), Albany's Casey Halloran (Pitcher of the Year) and Maine's Jenna Balent (Rookie of the Year) and head coach Stacey Sullivan (Coach of the Year) took home the hardware at the annual America East softball banquet on Wednesday night. All voting was conducted by the conference's head coaches.
Complete All-Conference Team Breakdown (PDF)
Denischuk, a junior transfer, has put together one of the most impressive offensive seasons in conference history enroute to becoming the first Retriever to garner America East Player of the Year honors. The left-handed hitting first baseman led America East in a number of statistical categories, as she smacked a conference-record 22 homeruns, tallied 77 hits, 80 runs batted in (RBI), 153 total bases, 39 walks and had an .874 slugging percentage with a .556 on-base percentage. The five-time America East Player of the Week also ranked second in batting average (.440), fifth in fielding percentage (.991) and sixth in runs scored (43). Denischuk has guided the Retrievers to their first-ever America East Championship as UMBC will be the No. 3 seed for four-team league tournament on May 11-13.
A right-handed pitcher, Halloran was nearly as dominant in the circle as Denischuk was at the plate. Halloran won four America East Pitcher of the Week awards during the 2006 campaign as the junior led the league in opposing batting average (.160), innings pitched (188.0), strike outs (215), wins (24) and ranked second with a 1.34 earned run average (ERA), 35 appearances and 28 starts. Halloran's 12 wins in conference play helped lead the Great Danes for the No. 2 seed in the upcoming league tournament. She becomes the third Great Dane in four years to take home the conference's award as the top pitcher.
Maine's Balent is the first Black Bear to earn America East Rookie of the Year accolades. The right-handed hurler led the league in ERA (1.25) and ranked second in oppositing batting average (.190). Balent, winner of one America East Pitcher of the Week award, teammed with Sarah Bennis to form the conference's top pitching duo.
Sullivan, Maine's first-year head coach, has guided the Black Bears to their second America East regular-season crown and their first since 1994. Maine has earned the top seed and the right to host the double-elimination America East Championship. Sullivan has piloted the Black Bears to a 16-5 conference record and a 35-17 overall mark.
UMBC's Denischuk, the only unanimous selection to the All-Conference First Team, was joined on the squad by teammates Jessica Griffith and Reilly Ward, Albany's Halloran, Katrina Dunning, Maegan Larsen, Amber Maisonet and Ali Meacham, Boston University's Shayne Lotito, Hartford's Samantha Morrison and Nikki Thompson and Maine's Balent, Bennis, Brittany Cheney and Amy Kuhl.
The second-team is comprised of Albany's Ashley Rios, Binghamton's Devin Glezen, Boston University's Tyler Benson, Cassidi Hardy, Brooke Hudson, Christy Leath and Brandi Shields, Maine's Erin Provost, UMBC's Courtney O'Hara and Dana Shepherd, Stony Brook's Suzanne Turek and Vermontn's Aimee Kern.
Hardy, Lotito, Leath, Balent and O'Hara are joined on the All-Rookie squad by Albany's Meagan Butsch, Hartford's Amanda Sais and Jackie Simonetty, Maine's Ashley Waters, Stony Brook Kelsi Fanelli and Vermont's Alison Daggett.
Thirteen first-team all-conference selections, nine second-team picks and seven all-rookie members will be in action at the America East Softball Championship on May 11-13 at Maine's Kessock Field in Orono, Maine. The first round of the four-team, double-elimination tourney gets underway on Thursday at 12 noon as No. 2 Albany faces No. 3 UMBC. The host and No. 1 seeded Black Bears then take on No. 4 Boston University at 2:30 p.m.
Be sure to follow all action of the America East Softball Championship on the web via www.AmericaEast.com's Championship LIVE!