Rahrich, Coppersmith Highlight 2019 #AESB Award Winners
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — A pair of student-athletes and one coach were honored with major awards as the annual America East softball award winners were announced at the league’s annual banquet on Tuesday evening on the campus of the University of Hartford, site of the 2019 America East Softball Championship.
Stony Brook’s Melissa Rahrich earned Player of the Year honors for the second-consecutive season while UMBC’s Courtney Coppersmith became the first player in league history to be named Pitcher and Rookie of the Year in the same season. UMass Lowell’s Danielle Henderson was the Coach of the Year.
The 2019 #AESB awards, along with the All-Conference teams, were determined in a vote by the league's seven head coaches who were not permitted to vote for their own players.
Complete Awards Listing
Player of the Year
Melissa Rahrich, So., Stony Brook
- The fifth repeat winner in conference history after also winning the honor last year.
- Leads the conference with 17 home runs and 58 RBI, both tied for the second-most in league history, while only striking out twice all season.
- She was at her best in conference play, leading the league in hitting (.481), home runs (6) and RBIs (21) while racking up a league-best 1.433 OPS in 18 games.
- A two-time America East Player of the Week this season, Rahrich also earned first-team All-Conference honors at utility player and pitcher.
Pitcher & Rookie of the Year
Courtney Coppersmith, So., Pitcher/Utility, UMBC
- First #AESB player to earn Rookie and Pitcher of the Year honors in the same season.
- The freshman hurler leads the league in nearly every key pitching category, including wins (17), ERA (1.77), innings pitched (201 1/3), batting average against (.154) and strikeouts (309).
- Her 309 strikeouts set a UMBC single-season mark and are the third-most in conference history while also ranking second in the country.
- At the plate, Coppersmith batted .308 and drove in 16 runs.
- A seven-time America East Rookie of the Week and six time Pitcher of the Week, Coppersmith became the first player in league history to sweep all three weekly awards on April 9.
- She also earned first-team All-Conference pitching honors, second-team All-Conference utility player recognition and was named to the All-Rookie team.
Coach of the Year
Danielle Henderson, UMass Lowell
- Henderson is Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons.
- The seventh coach to win multiple COY honors.
- The River Hawks captured their first-ever America East regular-season title this season after going 15-3 in conference play.
- Won a Division I program record 27 games during the regular season
Twenty-two players earned All-Conference recognition while 10 were All-Rookie choices and 10 more garnered All-Academic recognition. View a complete list of All-Conference, All-Rookie & All-Academic selections.
The 2019 America East Softball Championship begins on Wednesday with No. 4 UMBC facing No. 5 Hartford at 11 a.m. and No. 3 Stony Brook taking on No. 6 Binghamton at 1:30 p.m. The two losing teams will play an elimination game at 4 p.m. The top seeds, No. 1 UMass Lowell and No. 2 UAlbany, will be in action on Thursday, along with another elimination game. Three more games will be played Friday while the championship games will be played on Saturday. The league champion will receive an automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Softball Championship.
Stay up-to-date on the tournament by visiting Championship Central for streaming and live stats links as well as box scores, highlights and recaps following each round in addition to team information, tournament history and more.
Follow @AmericaEast and @AEDigitalNet on Twitter to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AESB hashtags to join the conversation.
About America East: The America East provides its member schools and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field.
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