2008 NESCAC Softball All-Conference Teams Announced
Tufts' Tinker Honored as Player of the Year
HADLEY, Mass. - Tufts sophomore first baseman Christy Tinker (Woodbridge, Conn.) has been selected by the conference coaches as the 2008 NESCAC Player of the Year. Tinker is part of a Jumbos squad that went 11-1 in the NESCAC East Division this season along with capturing the 2008 NESCAC Softball Championship, the second-straight NESCAC title for Tufts and fifth in program history. Tinker becomes the seventh player from Tufts to receive the league’s top honor in the last eight years.
In addition to being named Player of the Year, Tinker also earned All-Conference First Team for the first time in her career. Tinker ranks fourth in the NESCAC in batting average at .422 and has an on-base percentage of .474 while holding second in the league in slugging percentage at .716, as she has hit eight homers and driven in 32 runs. Her defensive play at first base has been just as spectacular as her offensive production for the Jumbos, committing only two errors on 232 chances for a fielding percentage of .991.
Joining Tinker from the Tufts squad on the First Team were senior catcher Megan Cusick (Albany, N.Y.) and first year pitcher Izzie Santone (Madison, Conn.). It was the fourth year in a row that Cusick received All-NESCAC honors, as she was named to the First Team in 2005 and again in 2006 before being selected to the Second Team in 2007. Cusick is fifth among her teammates in hitting with a .363 average and holds an on-base percentage of .421. Behind the plate, Cusick has given up only three passed balls and committed only three errors so far this season for a fielding percentage of .981. Santone emerged as one of the top pitchers in the conference during her first season with the Jumbos. Santone (8-2) owns a 2.00 ERA to rank third among NESCAC pitchers, striking out 44 batters while surrendering only 21 walks and no home runs over 66.2 innings pitched. For her performance, Santone was chosen as the NESCAC Rookie of the Year.
Wesleyan sophomore Meaghan Dendy (Swansea, Mass.) found a spot on the All-NESCAC First Team for the second-straight year. Splitting time between second base and the circle, Dendy was third for the Cardinals in hitting with a .383 average and a team-leading 14 stolen bases while going 11-6 during 19 pitching appearances with a 2.36 ERA over 100.2 innings, completing 12 games and garnering NESCAC Pitcher of the Year honors. Along with Dendy on the First Team were teammates Marcia Whitehead (Cambridge, Mass.) and Talia Bernstein (Miami, Fla.). Whitehead, a member of the 2007 Second Team, left her mark on the Cardinal record books during her senior year with a single-season record 51 hits and a program-best 173 career hits as she led Wesleyan from the dish with a .398 average and a .454 on-base percentage. Bernstein finished the 2008 campaign just behind Whitehead on the Cardinals’ roster, batting .397 with a .442 on-base percentage. The rookie first baseman accumulated 50 hits along with a team-best 10 doubles and 32 RBIs.
Receiving All-NESCAC honors for the third consecutive year was Williams junior shortstop Joey Lye (Scarborough, Ontario), as she repeated as a First Team member after being recognized on the Second Team as a first year player in 2006. Starting all 39 games this season, the Ephs’ lead-off hitter paced not only her own team but also the conference in multiple statistical categories, including batting average (.504), on-base percentage (.568), runs scored (41), hits (64) and total bases (87). Lye’s 64 hits and 87 total bases also set single-season records at Williams, while she became the first Ephs player with more than 100 at-bats to finish a campaign batting over .500.
The sophomore tandem of outfielder Jacqueline Tyler (Ridgewood, N.J.) and pitcher Alex Chang-Graham (San Carlos, Calif.) represented Amherst on the First Team. Tyler, who earned First Team accolades for the second time in as many years, was second in the NESCAC in hitting with a .451 average and also an on-base percentage of .509. Chang-Graham was one of the top hurlers in the conference this season, posting a league-leading 1.65 ERA while holding opponents to a .249 average (T-4th NESCAC) and striking out 77 batters (4th).
Rounding out the 2008 All-Conference First Team were a pair of juniors from the 2007 Second Team, Trinity’s Ariana Mullin (Woodbridge, Conn.) and Bates’ Stacia Saniuk (Sharon, Mass.). Both players ranked in the top 10 in the league in hitting and on-base percentage, with Mullin batting .411 (6th) and getting aboard at a .477 rate (3rd), while Saniuk, the 2006 NESCAC Rookie of the Year, hit .395 (10th) and recorded a .447 on-base percentage (10th).
Coach of the Year honors were shared by Tufts’ Cheryl Milligan and Wesleyan’s Jen Shea. It is the third time in the past four years that Milligan has earned the award, as the Jumbos won the 2008 NESCAC Softball Championship and boast a 28-9 overall record, just three wins shy of a program-best 31 wins achieved in 1995 and 2007. Shea and the Cardinals went 21-16 in 2008 and reached the final of the NESCAC Softball Championship for the first time this year.
2008 NESCAC Softball All-Conference Team
| |
First Team |
School |
Yr. |
Hometown |
| 1B |
Talia Bernstein |
Wesleyan |
Fy. |
Miami, Fla. |
| P |
Alex Chang-Graham |
Amherst |
So. |
San Carlos, Calif. |
| C |
Megan Cusick |
Tufts |
Sr. |
Albany, N.Y. |
| P/2B |
Meaghan Dendy |
Wesleyan |
So. |
Swansea, Mass. |
| SS |
Joey Lye |
Williams |
Jr. |
Scarborough, Ontario |
| C |
Ariana Mullin |
Trinity |
Jr. |
Woodbridge, Conn. |
| P |
Izzie Santone |
Tufts |
Fy. |
Madison, Conn. |
| C/3B |
Stacia Saniuk |
Bates |
Jr. |
Sharon, Mass. |
| 1B |
Christy Tinker |
Tufts |
So. |
Woodbridge, Conn. |
| OF |
Jacqueline Tyler |
Amherst |
So. |
Ridgewood, N.J. |
| 3B |
Marcia Whitehead |
Wesleyan |
Sr. |
Cambridge, Mass. |
| |
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|
|
| |
Second Team |
School |
Yr. |
Hometown |
| OF |
Kaitee Daley |
Bowdoin |
Jr. |
Canaan, Vt. |
| OF |
Alexandra Essman |
Colby |
Fy. |
Littleton, Mass. |
| DP/P |
Karla Hargrave |
Wesleyan |
Sr. |
Brookfield, Conn. |
| DP |
Cara Hovhanessian |
Tufts |
Jr. |
Farmington, Conn. |
| 3B |
Samantha Kuhles |
Tufts |
Jr. |
Somerville, N.J. |
| 2B |
Danielle Lopez |
Tufts |
Sr. |
Danvers, Mass. |
| 1B |
Megan Margel |
Middlebury |
Fy. |
Ridgewood, N.J. |
| C |
Amber O'Connor |
Hamilton |
Jr. |
Pembroke, Ontario |
| C |
Katie Powers |
Williams |
Sr. |
North Reading, Mass. |
| P/2B |
Morgan Simpson |
Williams |
Jr. |
McLean, Va. |
| OF |
Jessica Tait |
Trinity |
So. |
North Salem, N.Y. |
| |
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| |
Player of the Year |
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| 1B |
Christy Tinker |
Tufts |
So. |
Woodbridge, Conn. |
| |
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| |
Pitcher of the Year |
|
|
|
| P |
Meaghan Dendy |
Wesleyan |
So. |
Swansea, Mass. |
| |
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|
| |
Rookie of the Year |
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|
| P |
Izzie Santone |
Tufts |
Fy. |
Madison, Conn. |
| |
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Co-Coaches of the Year |
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Cheryl Milligan |
Tufts |
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Jen Shea |
Wesleyan |
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