The Empire 8 Athletic Conference has announced the
2017 Softball All-Conference Teams as voted on by the conference coaches. In addition, the Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year have been selected.
St. John Fisher College junior
Katie Mazierski was voted the Player of the Year. In 34 regular season games, she batted .515 (53-of-103) with a .583 slugging and .562 on-base percentage. She totaled 35 runs, 13 RBI and 14 walks. In the field she collected 41 putouts and 21 assists.
In conference play, Mazierski started 13 games at second base, hitting for a .528 batting average. She led the league in on-base percentage (.630), ranked second with her batting average and was fourth in the conference in runs scores (14) and hits (19).
Mazierski is the third Fisher player to earn the yearly honor, joining previous honorees Sarah Dresser (2008) and Jennifer Vanek (2011).
Junior
Lindsey Thayer from St. John Fisher was named the Pitcher of the Year for the third straight season. The Winthrop, NY native appeared in 25 regular season games making 22 starts and posting a 20-4 record with 15 complete games. She tossed 140.1 innings with 10 shutouts and a .35 ERA. She struck out 288 batters, including a 21 against Nazareth on April 21 to tie the NCAA record for strikeouts in a 7-inning game. In the regular season, she allowed 45 hits and only seven earned runs.
In conference-only regular season games, Thayer tossed 53 innings and recorded 122 strikeouts. She finished with six complete games, three shutouts and limited the opponent to a .099 batting average.
Freshman
Shannon Grage from Ithaca garners Rookie of the Year honors after appearing in 30 regular season games and making 23 starts. Grage was a primary designated player with a few appearances in the pitching circle. She hit an impressive .307 in the regular season at the dish with 13 RBI and seven of her 23 hits were doubles. In the circle she tossed 45.1 innings and recorded 17 strikeouts with a 2.78 ERA.
During conference play, she made 8 starts and five appearances in the circle. She generated a .360 batting average, .520 slugging percentage and drove in eight runs. In the circle she tossed nine innings.
Grage is the eighth player in program history to be named the Empire 8 Rookie of the Year.
Nazareth head coach
Jack Carpenter has been named the Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career but the first honor at the helm of the Golden Flyers. His previous three awards (2001, 2002 and 2005) all came while coaching at RIT when the Tigers were a member of the Empire 8.
Carpenter guided the Golden Flyers to an 8-6 league record and its second overall appearance in the E8 Tournament and first since 2008. Nazareth finished the regular season with a 19-13 record, one of the best of seasons in the 11-year history of the program.
In addition to the yearly awards and all-conference teams, one member of each team was named that institution’s representative on the 2017 Softball Sportswoman of the Year Team. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete’s experience in conjunction with an institution’s educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportswomen.
Player of the Year: Katie Mazierski, St. John Fisher College
Pitcher of the Year: Lindsey Thayer, St. John Fisher College
Rookie of the Year: Shannon Grage, Ithaca College
Coach of the Year: Jake Carpenter, Nazareth College