Kistner Named CCC Rookie of the Year, Five other Golden Bears Honored as All-CCC Performers
DeLisi, Lavinio & Wood earn first team All-CCC recognition
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 27, 2017) – Highlighted by freshman Aimee Kistner's (Taunton, Mass.) selection as the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Rookie of the Year, the Western New England University softball team placed six student-athletes on the 2017 All-CCC teams, which were released on Thursday evening by the league office.
Senior shortstop Gabby Lavinio (Dalton, Mass.), senior catcher Corianna DeLisi (Tuxedo, N.Y.) and senior outfielder Katie Wood (Westport, Mass.) all earned first team honors, while Kistner was named to the second team as a utility player and freshman pitcher Paige Uliase (Meriden, Conn.) landed on the third team along with junior infielder Lindsay Williams (Coventry, Conn.).
Lavinio, the 2016 CCC Player of the Year, was again one of the top players in the conference this spring, batting .385 (40-for-104) with 15 doubles (1st in CCC), one triple, two home runs and 22 RBI. Lavinio also scored 27 runs and walked six times while stealing four bases. She posted a 17-game hitting streak from March 13–April 14 and recorded multiple hits in 12 of 32 games this season.
DeLisi earns first team All-CCC honors for the first time in her career after landing on the second team last spring. The senior, who missed 12 games in April with an injury, is hitting .444 (28-for-63) with six doubles, two triples, two homers and 14 RBI to go with 19 runs scored, eight walks and three steals. She had recorded at least one hit in 12 of 15 games before the injury with six multi-hit efforts, before going 7-for-14 over four games in her return to the lineup last weekend.
Rounding out Western New England's three All-CCC first team selections is Wood, who earns All-Conference honors for the first time in her career after hitting .333 (30-for-90) with four doubles, three home runs and 18 RBI during the regular season. Wood, who also scored 22 runs, is tied for second in the CCC with 16 walks.
Kistner has made an immediate impact for the Golden Bears both at the plate and in the circle during her first season with the program en route to Rookie of the Year and All-CCC second team accolades. Offensively, Kistner hit .393 (33-for-84) with six doubles, one triple, four homers and 27 RBI while scoring 24 runs and drawing 16 walks. She emerged as one of the top players in the CCC over the second half of the season, batting .568 (21-for-37) with four doubles, four home runs and 21 RBI in 14 games since April 11. The Taunton, Mass. native has also been a top pitcher for the Golden Bears all season, as she has appeared in 12 games with seven starts (four complete games), posting a record of 5-3 with a 2.53 earned run average and 44 strikeouts in 58 innings. Kistner was named CCC Rookie of the Week on Monday.
Williams is also a first-time All-CCC performer with her selection as a third team honoree. The junior has posted career-highs in most offensive categories this season, hitting .376 (38-for-101) with six walks, 12 RBI and 19 runs scored. Williams opened the season with a nine-game hitting streak, before registering another nine-game streak from April 9-18. She has recorded at least one hit in 24 of the 30 games she has appeared in this season with 11 multi-hit performances.
Rounding out Western New England's six All-CCC selections is Uliase, who earns third team honors following a strong freshman campaign. Uliase, who was named both CCC Pitcher and Rookie of the Week on April 3, appeared in 16 games for the Golden Bears, making 14 starts in the circle. The freshman went the distance in seven of her 14 starts, while posting a 2.73 earned run average with 50 strikeouts in a team-high 84.2 innings of work. Uliase struck out a season-high seven batters on two occasions, both of which came in complete game victories during Western New England's season-opening trip in Florida.
Western New England (23-9, 13-5 CCC), which earned the No. 2 seed in the CCC Tournament, will host a playoff game on Saturday afternoon against the winner of Game 4.
