Heidi Grieger & Gabby Lavinio Highlight Six All-CCC Selections for Western New England

CCC Release

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 28, 2016) - Highlighted by a pair of major award winners in senior pitcher Heidi Grieger (Hyde Park, N.Y.) and junior shortstop Gabby Lavinio (Dalton, Mass.), the Western New England University softball team placed six student-athletes on the 2016 All-Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) teams, which were released this afternoon by the league office.
 
Grieger and Lavinio were named Pitcher of the Year and Player of the Year, respectively, and the duo was joined on the All-CCC first team by senior first baseman Heather Fecteau (Biddeford, Maine) and senior outfielder Alexis Bukowski (Wallingford, Conn.). Rounding out Western New England's six selections were junior catcher Corianna DeLisi (Tuxedo, N.Y.), who was named to the All-CCC second team, and senior third baseman McKenzie Pezze (Albany, N.Y.), who earned a spot on the third team. Additionally, head coach Lori Mayhew '95 was named CCC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.
 
Grieger collects Pitcher of the Year honors after leading the CCC with 14 wins (14-6 record) and ranking fourth with a 1.88 earned run average. She struck out 55 batters in 115.1 innings of work and registered 11 complete games, good for seventh in the conference.
 
The Hyde Park, N.Y. native was even more dominant in conference play, going 9-0 with a 0.81 earned run average against CCC opponents. She took a no-hitter into the bottom of the sixth inning of Western New England's 6-0 win at the University of New England on April 24, helping the Golden Bears secure the top seed in the CCC Tournament with an eventual two-hit shutout. A three-time All-CCC performer, Grieger is the second consecutive Golden Bear to earn CCC Pitcher of the Year accolades, as former teammate Lauren Zambrano '15 accomplished the feat last spring.
 
Lavinio powered the Western New England offense all season long, batting .448 (4^th in CCC) with 13 doubles (T-1^st), seven home runs (T-2^nd), and 30 RBI (3^rd). She also ranked second in both on-base percentage (.515) and slugging percentage (.776) while drawing 11 walks and scoring 26 runs.
 
Lavinio had at least one hit in 28 of Western New England's 35 regular season contests, and recorded 19 multi-hit performances. She compiled five hits, including a double and a home run, to go with three RBI as the Golden Bears swept Smith on March 24, and also played a key role in Western New England's two wins at Salve Regina on April 9, going 4-for-7 with a double, a triple and three RBI.
 
Fecteau earns All-Conference first team accolades for the second straight season after batting .408 (6^th in CCC) with six doubles, two home runs and 13 RBI. She also played strong defense at first base, posting a .993 fielding percentage with just two errors in 300 total chances. Fecteau was named CCC Offensive Player of the Week on March 13 following a .727 (8-for-11) performance at the plate as the Golden Bears split their last four contests in Florida.
 
Bukowski also collects her second consecutive All-CCC first team selection after hitting .298 with two home runs, seven doubles and 18 RBI. She posted a season-best 11-game hitting streak from April 1-16, a stretch that included a 6-for-7 effort at the plate with two RBI and two runs scored in a doubleheader sweep of Gordon on April 1.
 
DeLisi, Western New England's lone second team honoree, batted .339 during the regular season and ranked third in the CCC with 12 doubles. She also drove in 15 runs and scored 31, the third highest total in the conference.
 
Pezze earns All-CCC accolades for the first time in her career with her third team selection after hitting .359 with ten doubles (T-4^th in CCC), two triples, four home runs (T-8^th) and 25 RBI. She collected six hits in Western New England's senior day sweep of Wentworth, and hit all four of her home runs over the last seven games of the regular season.
 
The Golden Bears (22-16, 15-3 CCC) will open their CCC title defense at home next Monday.