University of Massachusets Athletics
Bettencourt & Plourde Win Top A-10 Season Honors
May 11, 2010 | Softball
May 11, 2010
AMHERST, Mass. - The Atlantic 10 Conference released its All-Conference and season awards on Tuesday, with UMass sophomore outfielder Katie Bettencourt being named Co-Player of the Year with Fordham's Beckah Wiggins and fellow sophomore Sara Plourde being named Pitcher of the Year. Five Minutewomen were named to the All-Conference first team and one each to the second team, All-Rookie, and All-Academic teams.
Bettencourt, Plourde, catcher Meghan Carta, outfielder Carly Normandin, and first baseman Sarah Reeves were all named to the All-Conference first team. Second baseman Kyllie Magill was named second team All-Conference as well as to the All-Conference Academic Team. Freshman third baseman Teea Rogers was named to the All-Rookie Team.
Bettencourt, after seeing just seven at-bats as a freshman in 2009, started every game in right field for UMass in 2010 and quickly established herself as one of the conference's top hitters, hitting .379 on the season with 11 doubles, seven home runs, and 30 RBIs. Her batting average ranked second in the A-10, behind her teammate, Normandin. In A-10 play, Bettencourt was the conference's top hitter, batting .500 (25-50) with five homers and 20 RBIs in 18 games.
Plourde, the NCAA's strikeouts leader (501), enters the Championship with a 1.03 ERA and a league-best 36 wins. The Bristol, Conn., native was unbeaten in league play (16-0) and boasted a league-leading 0.75 earned-run average in A-10 action. She has won 22 straight decisions and hurled five no-hitters this spring. In addition to total strikeouts, Plourde also ranks among the national leaders in strikeouts per seven innings (second), victories (second), shutouts (sixth) and ERA (eighth). The five-time A-10 Pitcher of the Week is only the 11th pitcher in NCAA history to record more than 500 K's in a single-season.
Bettencourt is 14th UMass player to earn A-10 Player of the Year honors and second in a row after Normandin last season. Plourde is the 16th UMass pitcher to be named A-10 Pitcher of the Year and the fifth-straight year UMass won the award after Brandice Balschmiter won the previous four years.
Also on the All-Conference first-team are Charlotte's Keri Palma; Fordham's Jocelyn Dearborn, Erin Fisher and Jen Mineau; and Kristin Nicoletti of Saint Louis. The All-Conference second-team consists of Magill, Charlotte's Emily Jeffrey and Serena Smith; Dayton's Molly Myer; Fordham's Jamie LaBovick; La Salle's Gina Massaro; Rhode Island's Melissa Wilson; Saint Joseph's Brooke Darreff and Erin Gallagher; Brittney Schmidt of Saint Louis; and Temple's Danielle Fagan. Fordham's Jamie LaBovick was named Rookie of the Year. The two-time Rookie of the Week selection finished the regular season with a .341 overall batting average, including 57 hits - 20 for extra bases - and 29 RBI. She ranks second in the A-10 in runs scored (43) and doubles (13), fifth in total bases (91) and eighth in batting average (.341).
Joining LaBovick and Rogers on the All-Rookie team is Charlotte's Briana Gwaltney; Dayton's Kathleen Maloof; Rhode Island's Erika Szymanski; Saint Joseph's Dana Parks and Dana Stinner; and Jessica Buschjost and Laura Bohning of Saint Louis. Fordham's Jen Mineau earns Student-Athlete of the Year honors after posting a 3.66 grade point average as a visual arts major. The pitcher hailing from Schaghticoke, N.Y., was named a 2010 ESPN The Magazine All-District selection and earned her second All-Conference nod this spring. Mineau, an Amateur Softball Association (ASA) Softball Top 25 Player of the Year Finalist, has established Fordham single-season marks for strikeouts (436), wins (30) and shutouts (14), along with a single-game record for strikeouts (22). She currently leads the nation in strikeouts per game (13/7.0 IP) and ranks second nationally with her 0.69 ERA. Mineau was named A-10 Pitcher of the Week on five occasions and was selected as the Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Division I Player of the Week on May 4.
Along with Mineau and Magill, the softball Academic All-Conference team consists of Charlotte's Serena Smith and Whitney Williams; Dayton's Molly Myer; La Salle's Gina Massaro; Kristin Nicoletti and Caitlin Trevillyan of Saint Louis; and Temple's Michelle Lerner and Samantha Schoell.
Now in her ninth season, Fordham's Bridgit Orchard earns her second Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year nod after guiding the Rams to a program-best 45-8 overall record and 16-2 mark in league play. Over the last six seasons, Orchard has led Fordham to more than 200 wins, including eight-straight appearances in the A-10 Championship and a pair of showings in the Finals. A four-year standout at Villanova from 1994-97, Orchard still holds three Wildcat records, and led Villanova to the ECAC Championship title in 1996. Named to the first team All-Big East, she was also a three-time All-Big East Academic Team member, and was ranked second among the toughest players in the nation to strike out. She received her degree in communication arts from Villanova in 1997, and earned a Masters of Education from Temple in 2001.
