Softball
Woodard Named WNYAC Freshman Athlete of the Year Mercyhurst North East softball player Nikki Woodard continues to pile up post season awards. Woodard (Clintonville, PA – Franklin), was named WNYAC Female Freshman Athlete of the Year as voted on today by the conference athletic directors. Woodard finished tied in the voting with Jennie Jerome, a volleyball player from Alfred State College. Woodard led the Saints with a .408 batting average and 44 RBIs. Woodard broke the single season home run mark with 10. Woodard’s stats were even more impressive because she missed 10 games this season. Woodard was named to the All Conference first team and the NFCA All East Region team last month. Woodard helped lead the Saints to an overall record of 25-15 and co-champions of the Western New York Athletic Conference.
Dewey Named Coach of the Year Mercyhurst North East softball coach Brian Dewey was name the Western New York Athletic Conference (WNYAC) Coach of the Year. Dewey guided the Saints to an overall record of 25-15 and 11-1 in the conference. The Saints won the WNYAC for the fourth time in the last five years. At one point, the Saints were ranked as high as 14th in the nation in the NJCAA division II poll. In his six year career, Dewey has been named Region Coach of the Year twice (2005 & 2006), WNYAC Coach of the Year twice (2005 & 2008), and NFCA East Region Coach of the Year in 2006.
Six Saints Make All Conference Mercyhurst North East had six softball players selected to the Western New York Athletic Conference team, named this past weekend. The Saints finished in a tie with Monroe Community College at 11-1 in conference play. Since Mercyhurst and Monroe split their conference double-header, the teams are both co-champions. Nikki Woodard (Clintonville, PA – Franklin), Laken Pogorzelski (Dunkirk, N.Y. – Dunkirk), and Haylee Vogan (Oil City, PA – Oil City) were all awarded spots on the first team all WNYAC. Woodard, led the Saints in batting average (.408), home runs (10), and RBIs (44). Her 10 home runs set a new single season school record. Pogorzelski led the Saints in extra base hits as she hit six home runs, five triples, and eight doubles. Vogan hit .398 for MNE while driving home 23 runs. Ashlyn Zellefrow (Harborcreek, PA – Harborcreek), Katie Ives (Ganesvorrt, N.Y. – Schuylerville), and Amanda Kean (McKean, PA – General McLane) all were named to the second team. Zellefrow was selected for the second year in a row and hit .328 for the Saints while finishing with four home runs, seven doubles, and 33 RBIs. Kean led the Saints in doubles with 12 while also hitting .326. Ives, a freshman pitcher, set a new school record for strikeouts in a season with 121. She has an ERA of 1.41 and limited opponents’ batting average to just .200.
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