Six Golden Bears Earn All-CCC Honors
Luba, Kistner & Buzzeo named to first team
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 26, 2018) – Six members of the Western New England University softball team were recognized when the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) announced its major award winners and All-CCC selections on Thursday afternoon.
Senior first base player Jenn Luba (Plymouth, Conn.), freshman outfielder Allie Buzzeo (Stamford, Conn.) and sophomore designated player Aimee Kistner (Taunton, Mass.) led the way with first team honors.
Kistner was also named to the second team as a pitcher along with classmate Paige Uliase (Meriden, Conn.), while freshman third base player Cassidy Howe (North Andover, Mass.) and sophomore outfielder Tori Fisher (Poestenkill, N.Y.) earned third team accolades.
Luba garners All-Conference honors for the first time after posting career-highs in several statistical categories. Through 36 contests this spring, the senior captain is batting .333 with five doubles, three triples, a CCC-leading five home runs and 27 RBI (5th in CCC). She has also walked 12 times and scored 32 runs.
Luba's numbers were even better in conference play, with a .386 batting average, .470 on-base percentage and .825 slugging percentage in 18 CCC contests. She has recorded at least one hit in 26 games with ten multi-hit efforts. Luba was named the CCC Player of the Week on March 26.
Buzzeo made an immediate impact for the Golden Bears as a freshman en route to All-CCC first team honors. She hit .327 in league play and .309 overall with three doubles, one triple, six RBI and 11 runs scored. After recording just one hit in her first 22 at-bats, Buzzeo tore it up in the second half of the season with 24 hits and nine multi-hit performances over the last 17 games.
Rounding out Western New England's trio of All-CCC first team performers is Kistner. The sophomore, who was named to the second team last spring, was again one of the Golden Bears' most dangerous hitters this season. She is batting .333 with nine doubles, four homers (2nd in CCC) and 20 RBI while walking 17 times and scoring 20 runs. In CCC play, her .574 on-base percentage, .813 slugging percentage, and .458 batting average rank first, second and third in the league, respectively.
Kistner also earned second team honors for her work in the circle after going 9-6 with a 2.33 earned run average and 105 strikeouts (4th in CCC) in 99 innings. Kistner, who also picked up two saves, posted eight complete games in 15 starts and struck out 7+ batters on nine occasions.
Joining Kistner on the second team is Uliase, who was a third team honoree as a freshman last season. The Francis T. Maloney High School product posted career-best numbers across the board, as she went 10-8 with a 1.77 ERA (3rd in CCC) and 79 strikeouts in 111 innings. She went the distance in eight of her 18 starts and recorded 5+ strikeouts seven times.
Representing the Golden Bears on the All-CCC third team are Fisher and Howe. Fisher hit .295 with three doubles, seven RBI, ten walks and nine runs scored, while Howe batted .271 with four doubles, one homer, 13 runs scored and 14 RBI in her rookie campaign.
Western New England, which earned the third seed in the CCC Tournament, will open the double elimination round against either Nichols or Curry on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Eastern Nazarene College.
