Softball | 5/17/2021 2:21:18 PM
Eleven players from three Empire 8 institutions were named to the 2021 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Northeast Region Team. Seven players earned first team honors, while two were named to the second team and a pair garnered third team accolades. Empire 8 Champion Alfred led all E8 members with five selections, while runner-up St. John Fisher had four players honored and a pair of Russell Sage student-athletes were honored.
Both the Empire 8 Player of the Year, Emily Trotman of St. John Fisher and Pitcher of the Year, Jessica Wilcox of Alfred were first team selections. Ashley Lugo and Allison O’Toole of Alfred, along with Jess Patterson and Allie Klonowski of St. John Fisher and Russell Sage’s Arianna Papas were first team picks. Taylor Dicranian of Sage and Fisher’s Rachel Evans were second team selections, while Tatiana Mejia and Alyssa Guitron, both of Alfred, garnered third team honors. Eight of the 11 selections earned 2021 All-Empire 8 first team accolades, while three were second team picks.
This year's eight squads are comprised of a total of 308 student-athletes from 134 programs. The awards salute student-athletes from the Association's eight NCAA regions with first, second and third-team honors. NFCA member coaches voted on the teams in their respective regions, and all honorees are eligible for selection to the 2021 NFCA Division III All-America squads, which will be announced on May 24.
Wilcox, a graduate student, is 17-4 in 24 appearances with a 1.32 earned run average, 0.77 WHIP, 17 complete games, seven shutouts, and an AU-record 238 strikeouts to go with just 12 walks in 143.1 innings pitched. She has struck out double-digit batters in 16 occasions this year. She also earned NFCA All-Northeast Region Third Team honors in 2019.
Lugo, a junior shortstop, is batting .406 to go along with a .478 on base percentage and a team-leading 1.065 OPS. Lugo is second in the NCAA in stolen bases, swiping an AU and Empire 8-record 49 bags in 52 chances, and is already the program and Empire 8's all-time leader in stolen bases with 86. She also leads the team and the Empire 8 with 56 hits.
O'Toole joined the team a third of the way through the 2021 season and hit the ground running, sporting an impressive .444 batting average, .528 slugging percentage, and a .989 OPS in 26 games played. O'Toole, a junior second baseman, has six doubles, 18 RBI and 12 runs scored.
Mejia has started 38 of 39 games at third base, sporting a .341/.427/.496 batting slash line with a .923 OPS in 123 at-bats. The junior third baseman has 13 extra base hits including 10 doubles and three home runs and is second on the team with 11 stolen bases, 16 walks and 36 runs scored.
Guitron, a junior outfielder, is sporting a batting slash line of .409/.457/.520 in 127 at bats this season. Guitron has 52 hits and 29 runs batted in. She has 12 extra base hits, including a team-leading 11 doubles and a home run. She also has seven stolen bases.
Trotman was named All-NFCA Northeast Region for the third time in her career (third team in both 2018 and 2019). The senior pitcher/third basemen has a .464 batting average and 1.273 OPS with 11 doubles, eight home runs and 31 RBI at the plate. She is also 14-3 in the pitcher’s circle with a 1.71 earned run average, 12 complete games and five shutouts over 94.0 innings.
Patterson, a sophomore, has pitched to a 14-2 overall mark with a 1.79 earned run average. She has scattered just 75 hits through 109.2 innings this year, while striking out 115 batters and has tossed 14 complete games and six shutouts.
Klonowski, a sophomore outfielder, is batting .408 with an OPS of 1.223. She leads all Empire 8 players with nine home runs to go along with 34 RBI in 33 games played. She also has a team-best 19 extra base hits and blasted three homers in the two-game Empire 8 Championship series versus Alfred on May 15.
Evans, who can play several different positions, is batting .318 this season. A junior, Evans has seven doubles and four home runs in all along with 20 RBI.
Papas, a junior outfielder, batted .535 (46-for-86) and slugged .826 with 32 runs scored, 10 doubles, three triples, three home runs and 17 RBI in 23 games played. Dicranian, a junior pitcher/first baseman, excelled both at the plate and in the pitching circle. She batted .488 (41-for-84) with 13 doubles, a home run and 20 RBI and finished 15-4 in the circle with nine complete games, including a no-hitter on May 6.
Both Alfred and St. John Fisher will compete in the 2021 NCAA Division III Softball Championship, which begins on Thursday, May 20. Alfred is the No. 2 seed in the six-team Wisconsin-Eau Claire region, which will be held in Eau Claire, Wisc., while St. John Fisher is the top-seed in the six-team Penn State-Behrend region, which will be played in Erie, Pa.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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