Thayer, Mance, Coaching Staff Recognized for Successful Season
PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Fresh off a historic season, the postseason accolades continued to roll in for the nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College softball team as both head coach
Bari Mance and staff and junior pitcher
Lindsey Thayer were recently recognized for their efforts.
Mance, along with assistant coaches
Chuck Sciortino,
Cody Wiktorski and Sarah Stefanon, were named the Division III Regional Coaching Staff of the Year by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association after guiding Fisher to a second place finish in the NCAA Division III Softball Championship in May. Under their watch, Fisher posted a program-high 44 wins and reached the NCAA Championship for the second consecutive season after winning both the Regional and Super Regional rounds. Mance's team also won its fifth Empire 8 Championship and first since 2013.
Mance, who was named the Regional Coach of the Year in 2016 as well, also picked up her 100th career win during the 2017 campaign and landed 10 players on the All-Conference list while two would go on to be named All-American.
Thayer, who has received countless awards this postseason, added to her collection as she was named an NCAA Statistical Champion in three categories. The Winthrop native finished her junior year ranked first in the nation in strikeouts (456), strikeouts per seven innings (13.5) and hits allowed per seven innings (2.73). The announcement marks the second consecutive season that Thayer has led Division III in strikeouts per seven innings after tallying 12.9 in 2016.
A First-Team All-American for the second straight season after going 31-7 in the circle for the Cardinals, Thayer, who was named to the All-Tournament team at the NCAA Championship, was dominant all season. Aside from leading the nation in three categories, she also ranked second in the country in earned run average at 0.62 and shutouts with 14.
In 235.2 innings of work, Thayer tossed a conference-leading 27 complete games and allowed just 92 hits in all. She surrendered just 55 walks and held opposing batters to a .115 batting average, which was among the national leaders. This season, Thayer, at times, was unhittable. She threw three no-hitters this season in all including a perfect game. During a five-day stretch, the junior hurled a no-hitter against Keuka with 18 strikeouts and tied an NCAA Division III record with 21 strikeouts in a seven-inning game. She would go on to toss a perfect game and recorded her 1,000th career strikeout against Alfred. Furthermore, she was at her best when the lights were brightest as she recorded another no-hitter in the opening game of the Division III Championship in a win over Williams College.
Thayer, who has now received All-American distinctions in each of her three seasons in a Fisher uniform, earned her fair share of praise this season after being named the Pitcher of the Year by both the Empire 8 and the Eastern College Athletic Conference. She was named First-Team All-Conference and would later be selected as First-Team All-Region for the third straight season. Additionally, Thayer was named the Most Outstanding Player in both the NCAA Regional and Super Regional rounds in 2017.
Beyond the accolades, Thayer, who was named the National Pitcher of the Week twice this season, recorded 12 games with 15 strikeouts or more and pitched 25 games without surrendering an earned run. Her 456 strikeouts and 235.2 innings this season ranks second all-time in Fisher history – Thayer holds both records – while her 31 wins tied her own mark set in 2016.