CAMBRIDGE, Mass. --
In line to become just the second softball player in league history to
win the triple crown, Albany’s Charlise Castro was unanimously chosen
the 2012 America East Player of the Year Wednesday as the conference’s
annual award winners and all-conference teams were announced. The Great
Danes also picked up Rookie of the Year honors as Vicky McFarland shared
the award with UMBC’s Taylor Hall. Stony Brook’s Allison Cukrov
received the Pitcher of the Year trophy while Boston University’s Shawn
Rychcik and Stony Brook’s Megan Bryant split Coach of the Year
accolades.
Castro, a sophomore first baseman, made quite an
impact during her first season at Albany. The transfer from Maryland
Eastern Shore currently leads the conference and ranks fourth nationally
hitting .468. Castro also has a league-best 13 home runs and 52 RBIs
and would join UMBC’s Melanie Denischuck (2006) as the only players in
league history to lead in hitting, homers and RBIs. A three-time Player
of the Week this season, Castro also paces America East in runs scored
(38), extra-base hits (29) and slugging percentage (.958), the
fifth-best clip in the country.
Cukrov, a freshman hurler,
became just the third rookie to earn Pitcher of the Year accolades. The
right-hander racked up a league-best 24 wins, including 13 shutouts
during the regular season, and compiled a 1.60 earned run average
(second-best in the league) in a conference-high 218 1/3 innings. A
four-time Pitcher of the Week as well as Rookie of the Week once, she
has struck out a league-best 220 batters and held them to a .167
average.
McFarland, a freshman outfielder, is Albany’s third-ever
Rookie of the Year. She anks second with 23 stolen bases in 29 attempts
and is tied for fourth with 35 runs scored. A .310 hitter from the
Great Danes’ leadoff spot, McFarland has 13 extra-base hits and driven
in 24 runs as a rookie. The recipient of Rookie of the Week on April 23,
McFarland has also been stellar in the outfield, converting all 52 of
her chances.
Hall, a freshman catcher, is the first Retriever to
take home Rookie of the Year honors. She ranks third among America East
leaders batting .367 and leads the league with 15 doubles. Hall added
eight homers and is second in the conference with a .627 slugging
percentage to go with 28 RBIs. She was also stellar behind the plate,
committing just two errors in 252 chances while throwing out 14
potential base stealers.
Rychcik picked up Coach of the Year
honors for the fourth time in his eight seasons at Boston U. after
leading the Terriers to a 37-14 regular-season record and their third
straight America East regular-season title. Rychcik’s squad, which is
led by a league-high six all-conference selections, is among the best
pitching teams in country, ranking 19th with a 1.85 ERA. Boston U.
currently ranks 18th in the NCAA Mid-Major Top 25.
Bryant led
Stony Brook to a 35-15-1 regular-season mark and second place in the
conference standings en route to earning Coach of the Year accolades for
the second time. Picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll after
placing sixth a year ago, the Seawolves have a 15-win improvement over
last year’s 20-29 squad. Bryant’s team is well balanced, leading the
league in hitting (.307), fielding percentage (.975) and ranking second
in team ERA (2.32).
Albany’s Brittany MacFawn, a repeat
selection, joins Cukrov as the first-team all-conference pitchers. Hall
and Castro are accompanied by Boston University’s Emily Roesch (second
base) and Brittany Clendenny (shortstop), along with UMBC’s Jessica
Warner (third base) on the first team infield. The last two first-team
outfield spots went to Boston U.’s Jayme Mask and Stony Brook’s Suzanne
Karath as they joined McFarland. Hartford’s Jordan Haines is the
first-team designated player while UMBC’s Katie Ferguson is the
first-team utility player for the second straight year.
Boston U.
hurlers Holli Floetker and Whitney Tuthill are the second-team
pitchers. Joining them on the second team is catcher EmJ Fogel and first
baseman Hilary Kane from Maine, second baseman Katie Wambold from
Albany, shortstop Lauren Maloney from Stony Brook, third baseman Megan
Volpano from Boston U. and outfielders Diane MacDowell from Albany,
Jessica Phillips from Binghamton and Shayla Giosia from Stony Brook.
UMBC’s Angela Yannone is the second-team designated player and
Hartford’s Peyton Fisher is the second-team utility player rounding out
the all-league selections.
Six freshmen that made an
all-conference team were also all-rookie selections. Accompanying
Cukrov, Giosia, Fisher, Fogel, Hall and McFarland on the team are
Albany’s Alexa Toole, Binghamton’s Caitlin Friis, Boston U.’s Mandy
Fernandez and Maine’s Jessica Burk.
Twenty-four All-Conference
and All-Rookie honorees will compete for the 2012 America East Softball
Championship, a double-elimination tournament, beginning on Thursday,
May 10 at BU Softball Field on the campus of Boston University.
Top-seeded Boston U. and fourth-seeded Maine will meet at 1 p.m. while
No. 2 Stony Brook and No. 3 Albany will play at 3:30 p.m. The conference
champion will be crowned on Saturday, May 12, and will receive an
automatic berth into the NCAA Softball Championship. Visit Championship
Central at AmericaEast.com for the full tournament schedule, links to
live stats and much more.