ATTLEBORO, MA -- Five Lesley softball players were named to the All-NECC First Team, including Jennifer Dorval, who captured NECC Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors, and Cassandra Knox, who was named NECC Pitcher of the Year for a second straight year.
In addition to Lynx aces Dorval and Knox, junior outfielder Gabrielle Brixey was named to All-NECC First Team, centerfielder and team captain Alyson Durben returns to the First Team for a second straight season, and designated player Emily Mangiaratti improved on last year's Second Team selection.
Having coached the first team to go undefeated through NECC play at a perfect 16-0, Jen Benway earned her first NECC Coach of the Year award. Coming off last weekend's NECC Championship, Benway's fourth straight league title, her Lynx are now the owners of one of the nation's longest winning streaks at 19 games, the longest in school history.
On the heels of being named to the NECC's All-Tournament Team, junior infielder Jenna Fralick was named to the All-NECC Second Team.
As the league batting champion and one of the most dominating pitchers in the conference, no player in the NECC was more valuable to her team than Jennifer Dorval. In NECC play, she a robust .614 to run away with the batting crown, slugging .909 and reaching base in almost two-thirds of her plate appearances.
On the mound, she went a perfect 7-0 in league play, working a miniscule 0.64 ERA and striking out 62 batters in 33 innings for a astounding rate of 1.88 strikeouts-per-inning. In NECC games, over half the batters who faced her struck out, and Dorval got a hit in over 60 percent of at-bats. Overall, she's currently hitting .565 with a .718 slugging percentage, and after picking up a pair of wins in last weekend's NECC Tournament, she's 15-2 with a 1.51 ERA on the mound.
As great of a two-way player as Dorval has been, Cassandra Knox's 2011 will go down as the most dominant pitching performance in the three-year history of the NECC. Three of Knox's eight starts in league play resulted in no-hitters. Six ended in shutouts. In over 40 NECC innings pitched, she never allow a run, yielding only nine hits. She struck over 1.5 batters per inning pitched, picking up the win every time she took the circle, going 8-0 in league play and is now 13-4 with one save on the season, holding batters to a .202 average on the year.
Junior college transfer Gabrielle Brixey earned First Team honors in her first season with the Lynx. She ranks among conference leaders with a .434 batting average, .657 slugging percentage, 34 RBI's and leads the league with five triples.
A versatile power presence in the middle of the lineup who can also lead off, she leads the team with 99 at-bats and has been perfect on all six stolen base while playing all three outfield positions. Brixey kicked off last weekend's NECC Championship by going 4-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in the Lynx win over Newbury.
Senior Alyson Durben enjoyed her most productive season to date. The three-time all-conference selection finished second in the NECC in batting at .526 with a whopping .789 slugging percentage in league games. The captain recorded one or more hits in 12 of her 13 league games and scored one or more runs in 11 of 13.
A sure-handed, strong-armed center fielder who went error-free in league games, Durben is Lesley's on- and off-field leader, clean-up hitter and one of the leading run producers on the nation's leading offense. Her biggest hit may have come in the Lynx 3-1 title game win over Elms College on Saturday, when her two-run double in the third inning turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead, ultimately driving in the championship-winning run for a second straight season.
Emily Mangiaratti made her case as one of New England's leading leadoff hitters in 2011. A 2010 NFCA All-New England selection, she reached base safely in all 16 league games, getting one or more hits in 12 and scoring two or more runs in 10 NECC contests. The sophomore also finished second in the league in stolen bases, swiping a perfect 11 bases in 11 attempts in NECC play and 15 overall. She drew 22 walks on the year, tallying 40 hits and scoring 46 runs, ranking her among league leaders in both categories.
Culminating with her All-Tournament Team selection, Fralick has been at her best down the stretch. Over the team's last 18 games, all of which she's started, the junior has hit .519 (28-for-54), leading the Lynx with 28 hits. In the league tournament, she hit a tournament-best .667 (6-for-9) with three runs scored.
After winning its third straight NECC Tournament, Lesley now awaits its NCAA Tournament opponent. All NECC awards recipients are listed below:
2011 NECC SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jennifer Dorval, Lesley, FR (Franklin, N.H.)
2011 NECC SOFTBALL PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Cassandra Knox, Lesley, JR (Sea Cliff, N.Y.)
2011 NECC SOFTBALL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Jennifer Dorval, Lesley, FR (Franklin, N.H.)
2011 NECC SOFTBALL COACH OF THE YEAR: Jen Benway, Lesley
2011 NECC SOFTBALL TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD: Southern Vermont
2011 ALL‐NECC SOFTBALL FIRST TEAM
FIRST BASE: Joanna Robie, Newbury, FR (Andover, Mass.)
SECOND BASE: Amy Waller, Daniel Webster, SR (Berlin, Mass.)
THIRD BASE: Rachel Butt, Elms, SO (Agawam, Mass.)
SHORT STOP: Jenna Lipscomb, Elms, JR (Cambridge, Mass.)
OUTFIELD: Alyson Durben, Lesley, SR (Stow, Mass.)
OUTFIELD: Jen Bordonaro, Mitchell, SR (Winsted, Conn.)
OUTFIELD: Gabrielle Brixey, Lesley, JR (Coalinga, Calif.)
PITCHER: Cassandra Knox, Lesley, JR (Sea Cliff, N.Y.)
PITCHER: Destinee Meeker, Elms, SR (Bantam, Conn.)
PITCHER: Jennifer Dorval, Lesley, FR (Franklin, N.H.)
CATCHER: Alyssa Davis, Southern Vermont, JR (Lyndonville, Vt.)
DESIGNATED PLAYER: Emily Mangiaratti, Lesley, SO (Amherst, Mass.)
2011 ALL‐NECC SOFTBALL SECOND TEAM
FIRST BASE: Tiffany Person, Mitchell, SO (Waterbury, Conn.)
SECOND BASE: Nicole Hoxie, Mitchell, JR (Winsted, Conn.)
THIRD BASE: Jenna Fralick, Lesley, JR (Woburn, Mass.)
SHORT STOP: Felicia Laufer, Becker, SR (Salem, Conn.)
OUTFIELD: Marlene DiRaimo, Elms, JR (Cranston, R.I.)
OUTFIELD: Sam Rios, Newbury, FR (Bronx, N.Y.)
OUTFIELD: Brittany Stracher, Newbury, SO (Dudley, Mass.)
PITCHER: Marissa Thomas, Mitchell, JR (New London, Conn.)
CATCHER: Sarah Buckley, Elms, SO (Wilbraham, Mass.)
2011 ALL‐NECC SOFTBALL HONORABLE MENTION
Mercedes Griffith, Bay Path, FR, C (Malden, Mass.)
Teressa Fariolo, Newbury, JR, 2B (East Longmeadow, Mass.)
Keelin Dougherty, Bay Path, FR, 3B (Northfield, N.H.)
Talan Barron, Becker, SO, 3B (Methuen, Mass.)
Emily Serrano, Bay Path, FR, SS (North Adams, Mass.)
Theresa Hylinski, Newbury, JR, SS (Stratford, Conn.)