University of Massachusets Athletics
Denise Denis And KJ Kelley Named ECAC All-Stars
June 02, 2005 | Softball
June 2, 2005
AMHERST, Mass. -- Senior right fielder Denise Denis (Middle Grove, N.Y.) as well as junior catcher KJ Kelley (Rainier, Ore.) were named Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Softball First-Team All-Stars Thursday the league office announced. Both Denis and Kelley ranked among the Atlantic 10 leaders in just about every offensive category. They each were A-10 All-Conference picks as well as All-Tournament team members.
Kelley was a member of the Atlantic 10 All-Conference team and was also picked to the All-Tournament team. She ranked among the leaders in the A-10 with a .382 batting average, 52 hits, 12 doubles, 14 home runs, 42 RBI, 106 total bases, a .779 slugging percentage, 33 walks and a .517 on-base percentage. With a solo home run against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the NCAA Tournament, her 14th of the season, Kelley broke her own single-season home run record. Batting in the number three spot in the order, Kelley compiled an impressive 1.65:1 walk to strikeout ratio. She had 33 walks and just 20 strikeouts in 178 plate appearances.
Behind the plate, Kelley threw out 32 percent of would-be base stealers. Opponents only attempted 28 stolen bases on her and she threw out nine of them. In the 16 league games, opponents only attempted three stolen bases. Kelley also had four pick-offs and a .980 fielding percentage.
On April 12 at Connecticut, Kelley broke the all-time UMass career home run record and now has 35 during her first three seasons. She sits in 11th-place all-time at UMass with a .329 batting average, tied for ninth with 110 RBI, third with 83 walks, second with a .649 slugging percentage and ninth with 59 extra-base hits. Kelley's .382 batting average in 2005 ranks as the 12th-highest while her RBI tally is tied for the fourth-best in a UMass single-season. In addition, her slugging percentage this season is the second-best at UMass. Her 33 walks also tied the mark for most in a single-season. Kelley, a two-time A-10 Player of the Week, compiled 16 multi-hit and 12 multi-RBI games this year. Last month, she was named the New England Intercollegiate Softball Coach's Association Player of the Year as well as a first-team All-Star.
Denis is coming off the best year of her career and was also a member of the A-10 All-Conference team and the All-Tournament team. She ranked among the A-10 leaders with a .360 batting average, 32 runs scored, 49 hits, 11 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 43 RBI, 85 total bases, a .625 slugging percentage, 23 walks, a .473 on-base percentage and was also 8-for-10 in stolen base attempts. Denis also compiled an .879 fielding percentage, including a perfect 1.000 mark in league games.
Denis compiled 12 multi-hit and 12 multi-RBI games this season. Her 43 RBI were the third-most in a UMass single-season and just two shy of Kim Gutridge's single-season record (45 in 1998). Denis' seven home runs this year are tied for the ninth-most in a UMass single-season while her nine career long balls are 14th all-time. Denis' .625 slugging percentage in 2005 is the eighth-best in a UMass single-season while her .502 career slugging percentage is seventh-best. Denis was a two-time A-10 Player of the Week as well as a New England Intercollegiate Softball Coach's Association Player of the Year as well as a first-team All-Star.
Massachusetts finished the 2005 season with a 37-16-1 overall record. The Minutewomen advanced to their 11th straight and 15th overall NCAA Tournament. They went 0-2 at the Austin, Texas regional. UMass lost to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 6-2, and 1-0 to eventual Women's College World Series participant Texas.