WORCESTER—In the local college sports scene this spring, softball took center stage as 21 players at Worcester schools garnered postseason award recognition.
Worcester State:
Leading the way with top conference honors in the Mass State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASAC), were junior shortstop Emma Lanpher and senior pitcher Emily Bartlett of Worcester State University.
Lanpher, of Charlton, was named MASCAC Player of the Year and a First Team All-Conference selection. She was the top hitter in the league with a .434 batting average, had the most hits (69) and scored the most runs (44). Lanpher also drove in 37 runs and sported a .610 slugging percentage while reaching base in nearly half of her plate appearances (.465 on-base percentage).
Bartlett capped off her senior season with the second MASCAC Pitcher of the Year honor of her career. She also won the award in 2022 as a sophomore. A First Team All-Conference pick, Bartlett struck out a conference-best 174 batters at a clip of 8.46 per game. She led the MASCAC in wins (16), shutouts (5), ERA (2.28) and held opposing hitters to a mere .189 batting average.
Joining Lanpher and Bartlett on the first team for Worcester State was sophomore Emma Lapoint who hit .361 on 48 hits while compiling 31 RBI. Sophomore Bella Gasbarro, junior Abigail Koziol and sophomore Bailey Tammaro earned spots on the MASCAC Second Team. The Lancers finished the season with a 27-16 overall record, including an 11-3 mark in conference play.
WPI:
At WPI, the Engineers (23-19-1) were paced by freshman Sandy Fairbairn of Norton who was selected as the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Rookie of the Year. Fairbairn, a First Team All-NEWMAC honoree, had the third highest batting average in the league at .432 while driving in 26 runs and swatting three homers.
Joining Fairbairn on the First Team were sophomore Emma Nagy (.395, 9 HR, 37 RBI) and freshman Virginia McKinney (.382, 50 hits). Sophomore Destiny Lum and senior Sydney Russell earned spots on the NEWMAC Second Team.
Assumption:
The Assumption Greyhounds (25-16) enjoyed a historic season on Salisbury Street this spring. The team earned a share of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship and advanced to the Division II NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012. The Greyhounds became the first Assumption team to win two regional games in the tournament with victories in Delaware over Saint Anselm and St. Thomas Aquinas College.
Graduate student Jordan Dwyer was named a National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Second Team All-East Region selection as well as First Team All Northeast-10 Conference choice. She hit .303 for the season with 37 hits and 16 RBI. On the base paths she stole 24 bases in conference games to lead the Northeast-10. For the season, she was 26 of 27 in stolen base attempts, a success rate of 96 percent.
Seniors Summer Sheerin and Lauren Geremia along with sophomore Kaitlyn Cahill earned spots on the Northeast-10 Second-Team while junior Anna Tassone and senior Abigail Larson were Third-Team selections. Freshmen Grace Heim and Lexi Thompson were named to the All-Rookie Team.
Holy Cross:
Sophomore Ali Sniegocki led the Crusaders in batting (.338), runs scored (25), hits (54), home runs (6) and RBI (23) on her way to earning a Second-Team All Patriot League selection. She was also honored as an Academic All-Patriot League Team member, maintaining a 3.48 GPA in Economics.
Clark:
Senior catcher Rebecca Mauro led the Cougars in hitting (.357), runs scored (19), hits (40) and RBI (19). She was named Second Team All-NEWMAC.
Mike Vigneux is a freelance writer in Worcester with more than 20 years of experience in the fields of municipal government, communications, and public relations. An avid fan of all sports, Mike enjoys telling the stories of local athletes and their teams. He holds two degrees from Clark University, a bachelor of arts in Communication and a master of science in Professional Communication. He can be reached at Mikevigs@gmail.com
