Center Valley, Pa. (May 6, 2008) – Six DeSales University softball players earned All-Conference honors on Monday afternoon as the Freedom Conference announced its 2008 All-Conference Team as freshman Jen Lococo (Easton, PA/Freedom) and head coach Rachel Turoscy were highlighted on the team as Lococo earned Freedom Conference Pitcher and Rookie of the Year honors and Turoscy was named the Freedom Conference Coach of the Year.
Lococo was one of three players to earn First-Team honors in addition to being named the Freedom Conference Pitcher of the Year and Freedom Conference Rookie of the Year. Joining her on the First-Team were junior Kelly Moran (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) and freshman utility player Kylie Fehnel (Nazareth, PA/Bethlehem Catholic). Earning Second-Team honors were the trio of junior outfielders Jamie Pfitzenmayer (Annandale, NJ/Hunterdon Central), Amanda Kensecki (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) and Maddie Roxandich (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic).
Turoscy earns Coach of the Year honors for the first time in her career guiding DeSales to a 27-13 overall record and to its first-ever Freedom Conference Championship last weekend. The 27 wins represent a school-record as the Bulldogs begin play in the NCAA Regional Tournament on Thursday. DSU was picked to finish last of the seven teams in the Freedom Conference in the pre-season poll and finished first in the regular season standings and took home the conference title in the playoff tournament with three wins last weekend at Wilkes University.
Lococo becomes the first-ever DeSales University pitcher to earn Pitcher of the Year honors at DeSales and just the third player in school history to earn Rookie of the Year honors (joining Jackie Fasolka and Erin Healy). She has had an extraordinary season posting an 11-6 record on the mound with a team-low 1.53 ERA in 118.2 innings pitched. Lococo has struck out 62 batters, totaled 17 complete games and tossed two shutouts. At the plate she has been equally successful batting .361 with two home runs and 20 RBI’s. She leads the team with 15 walks and has a team-high .452 on-base percentage.
Moran has also had a breakout season batting a team-high .402 with 49 hits, 31 runs scored, 10 doubles and a school-record eight home runs. She has driven in 33 runs which is just four RBI’s short of breaking another single-season record and has added five stolen bases during the year. Fehnel has done a tremendous job splitting time between first and second base all season. She is batting .319 with 14 RBI’s and has six stolen bases.
Kensecki leads the trio of outfielders on the All-Conference Second-Team in hitting at .376. She has 44 hits, 21 runs scored and 20 RBI’s. She also has four outfield assists and just one error for a .983 fielding percentage. Pfitzenmayer has made an excellent transition from the catcher position last year to center field this year. Her strong arm has garnered six assists and she’s made just two errors for a .970 fielding percentage. At the plate she is batting .327 with five home runs and 24 RBI’s, while also stealing seven bases and ranking second on the team with 26 runs scored. Roxandich rounds out the list of honorees batting .346. She ranks second on the team with 45 hits and leads the team with 17 stolen bases on the season.
The Bulldogs continue their season in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday when they take on Lebanon Valley College in the opening round at Noon at Ithaca College. Live stats will be provided for each game of the tournament and can be accessed at the following link for each game – LIVE STATS CLICK HERE. You can also access the tournament’s complete schedule at that link as well as other NCAA Tournament information and information on all eight teams in the regional. Ticket prices for the event will be $5.00 for adults and $2.00 for students/seniors/youth children.