Softball: Four Earn All Conference, DelPonte Takes Top Coaching Honors
Nashua, NH – Four Daniel Webster softball student-athletes have earned all-conference honors as selected by the conference coaches and announced Monday by the conference office.
Junior Chelsey Crawford of Westfield, Mass. (Westfield HS) was named to the all-conference first team, junior Samantha Hill of Hudson, N.H. (Alvirne HS) and freshman Sarah Durocher of Keene, N.H. (Keene HS) were named to the second team, while senior Amy Waller of Berlin, Mass. (Tahanto HS) earned honorable mention.
Meanwhile, first year Head Coach Danielle DelPonte earned "Coach of the Year" honors after guiding the squad to its most successful season in program history.
CRAWFORD, a center fielder, earned first team honors for the second time in her career, having also earning a spot in 2010. Crawford has hit .373 this season having started all 42 games to date, and stands second on the team with 50 total hits which has included seven doubles, six triples and one home run. Her 33 RBI and .537 slugging percentage is also a team-best.
A one-time NECC "Player of the Week," Crawford hit .403 in 18 conference games with five doubles, three triples and a homer, knocking in 16 and adding two steals.
In her two-year career, Crawford owns a .369 average in 66 games (all starts) and starts with 13 doubles, eight triples, three home runs, 54 RBI and seven steals.
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| Hill | Durocher |
HILL, a first baseman, earns her first all-conference accolade and is hitting .306 on the season including a team-best nine doubles along with one triple, two home runs, 32 RBI and two stolen bases. In league play, Hill finished .306 with four doubles, a triple, a home run and 14 RBI with one steal.
Over two seasons over 40 games, Hill owns a .283 career average with nine doubles, a triple, 29 RBI and two stolen bases.
DUROCHER has enjoyed a solid rookie campaign as a starting pitcher and shortstop, and owns an 11-9 overall record with a 4.97 ERA in 22 appearances (19 starts) which includes 18 complete games. She has racked up 46 strikeouts against 32 walks in 117 innings.
Against the NECC, Durocher posted a 7-2 record with a 3.92 ERA in 55 1/3 innings, striking out 24 and walking just nine.
At the plate, she hit .283 with five doubles, 18 RBI and had three steals.
WALLER, who will retire as the greatest all-around hitter and fielder in program history, earns all-conference accolades for the fourth straight season making her the first four-time all-conference honoree in program history. She previously earned two first team and one second team award.
Waller is enjoying the most productive season of her career, hitting a team-best .398 in 42 games (42 starts) with seven doubles, four triples, a team-best 45 runs scored and is 13-of-14 on stolen bases attempts, all while hitting leadoff. She has added a .511 slugging percentage and .467 on-base percentage.
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| Waller | DelPonte |
In conference, Waller hit .262 with a double, triple and 10 RBI and was 6 for 7 on steal attempts.
Over her career, Waller never missed a game or start, spanning 128 games. Along the way, her career totals of 158 hits are a program record, along with her 29 doubles, 127 runs scored, 205 total bases, and 40 stolen bases. Her .368 career average is fourth all-time.
While Waller will always be remembered offensively, it has been her defense that has been her trademark. In all 128 starts at second base, she owns a career fielding percentage of .959 - the second highest in program history - as she committed just 18 errors in 437 chances.
DelPonte helped guide the Eagles to one of the greatest-single season turnarounds of any sport in Daniel Webster athletics history this past season. DWC posted a 7-18 (.280) record in 2011 but currently owns a 23-19 overall mark (.547), an increase of 16 wins and 267 percentage points.
The Eagles, picked to place eighth of nine teams in the 2012 preseason coaches' poll, posted a 13-5 mark in NECC regular season play after going 5-11 the season prior.
Both the 23 overall wins and 13 conference wins are program all-time single season records.
Moreover, the Eagled caught fire in the NECC championship tournament, posting the greatest single-game comeback in program history on May 2nd when the team rallied from a 10-5 deficit to score six times in the bottom of the seventh inning for a dramatic 11-10 victory over Regis in the NECC's first round.
DWC went on to go 2-2 at the NECC's double-elimination final four, reaching the finals of the tourney - the deepest playoff run in program history – finishing as runner up.
The Eagles were also selected to their first ECAC New England Championship tournament and play on Wednesday, May 9th at Brandeis in the quarterfinals.
DelPonte's coaching award is the ninth NECC Coach of the Year award for a Daniel Webster athletics program since 2008. That list includes two awards in baseball (2009, 2010), two in women's volleyball (2009, 2010), one in men's cross country (2008), one in women's basketball (2010), one in men's soccer (2008) and one in men's volleyball award (2010).
