VESTAL, N.Y. — After posting its most wins in eight seasons, University of Maine claimed three of the conference’s four major softball awards Wednesday evening at an awards banquet on the campus of Binghamton University, host of this week’s America East Softball Championship. Janelle Bouchard was named Player of the Year while Erin Bogdanovich earned Pitcher of the Year honors and Alyssa Derrick took home Rookie of the Year honors. Binghamton head coach Michelle Burrell was named Coach of the Year after leading the Bearcats to the league’s regular-season title.
The award winners and All-Conference teams were determined in a vote by the league’s head coaches who could not vote for their own team.
Bouchard, a senior catcher, is Maine’s first Player of the Year since 2009. She is hitting .394 overall with 19 extra-base hits, including a league-high tying 13 doubles. Bouchard has driven in 35 and scored 34 runs and hit .421 in 17 conference games. Also the first-team All-Conference catcher, she has helped Maine achieve a league-best 3.11 team ERA and threw out 38 percent of attempted base stealers in conference play.
Bogdanovich, a senior right-hander, earned Pitcher of the Year honors just one year after her sister, Alexis, received the award. The league’s top hurler during conference play. Bogdanovich went 7-0 with a 1.11 ERA in nine appearances, allowing just eight earned runs and 36 hits in 50 1/3 innings. Also a first-team all-league hurler, she twice took home America East Pitcher of the Year awards this season.
Derrick, a freshman third basemen, hit .318 with 18 extra-base hits, including eight homers and drove in 38 runs, tied for sixth-best in the league. Also, a second-team All-Conference selection, Derrick was a two-time Rookie of the Week selection during the season.
Burrell, who is in her seventh year as Binghamton’s head coach, is Coach of the Year for the second time after also winning the award in 2013. The Bearcats won their first-ever America East regular-season title this season and posted a program-record 33 wins during the regular season. Burrell’s squad is one of the top hitting teams in the nation ranking sixth with a .353 team batting average.
Joining Bogdanovich as a first-team all-league Pitcher is Stony Brook’s Jane Sallen, a second-team selection a year ago. Repeat selections Taylor Chaffee (first base) from Binghamton and Maggie Cocks (shortshop) from Albany are joined as first team infielders by Binghamton’s Stephanie Bielec (second base) and Kate Richard (third base). Binghamton’s Sydney Harbaugh earned first-team honors in the outfield becoming the 15th player in league history to earn first-team honors all four years. She is joined by teammate Jessica Rutherford and Stony Brook’s Diane Caruso. The Bearcats’ Griffin McIver, the league leader with 14 home runs, is the first team designated player while Allie Pisciotta rounds out the team as the first-team utility player.
Binghamton’s Sarah Miller and Maine’s Molly Flowers, the league leader in strikeouts, are the second-team pitchers while Albany’s Elizabeth Snow is the second-team catcher. Derrick was joined as a second-team infielder by Albany’s Mackenzie Cleary (first base) and Kelly Costello (second base) and Maine’s Felicia Lennon (shortstop). Albany’s Donna Conrad and Maine’s Rachel Harvey and Erika Leonard make up the second-team outfield while Stony Brook’s Irene Rivera was the second-team designated player and Binghamton’s Lisa Cadogan is the utility player.
Eleven players earned All-Rookie honors, including Derrick and Rivera along with Albany’s McKenzie Bump, Chelsea Henige, Celeste Verdolivo, Binghamton’s Makenzie Goluba, Hartford’s Kylie Dazalla, Maine’s Maddie Decker, Alyssa Derrick and Meghan Royle, UMBC’s Morgan Peyou and UMass Lowell’s Kaysee Talcik.
Nine All-Conference honorees were also honored as All-Academic honorees after excelling on the field and sustaining at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA in the classroom. Bouchard, Caruso, Cocks, Costello, Leonard, McIver, Pisciotta, Sallen and Snow were joined by Albany’s Devin Durando, Binghamton’s Gabby Bracchi, Hartford’s Peyton Fisher, UMBC’s Bridget O’Malley and UMass Lowell’s Samantha McQueen. Those selections were chosen by a committee made up of America East sports information directors, academic advisors and faculty athletic representatives.
The majority of the All-Conference, All-Rookie and All-Academic sections will be in action at the 2016 America East Softball Championship, which will be held at Binghamton May 11-14.