Four MAAC Softball Student-Athletes Earn NFCA Division I All-Region Teams
MAAC Sports
Louisville, Ky.- Four Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) softball student-athletes have been named to the 2015 NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) Division I All-Region Teams. Canisius College sophomore, Jessica Berzins, Manhattan duo of Elena Bowman, and Amy Bright, and Fairfield’s Lauren Filicia earned the honors.
An All-MAAC First Team selection in 2015, Berzins led the Golden Griffins and ranked second in the MAAC with her .444 batting average, which is the best single-season batting average for a Canisius player since 1997. She led Canisius with 63 hits, including 11 doubles, three triples and two home runs, and she also scored a team-high 41 runs. The Placentia, Calif. native drove in a career-high 22 RBI and she earned 28 walks to go with nine stolen bases, a .606 slugging percentage and a .532 on-base percentage. Berzins ended her sophomore year ranked in the top-five of the MAAC in four different offensive categories, and her 63 hits led the league. In the 2015 MAAC Championship last week, she hit .500 (3-for-6) with a double and two RBI in two games.
A unanimous choice as MAAC Player of the Year, Bowman paced the league in batting average (.448), slugging percentage (.920), on-base percentage (.586) and home runs (16). She also tied for the MAAC lead with 41 RBIs. In addition, Bowman recorded team-high totals of 56 hits, 39 runs and 11 doubles, and she didn’t make an error in 266 defensive chances behind the plate. This is the second time that Bowman has been honored by the NFCA. She was named to the All-Region First Team as a utility player in 2013.
Bright was selected to both the All-MAAC First Team and MAAC All-Tournament Team in 2015. She tied for the MAAC lead with 15 wins and three saves, and her 139 strikeouts were second-most in the league. Bright, who tossed five shutouts this season, was also third in the MAAC in ERA (2.80). This is the first All-Region selection of her career.
Filicia has served as the team’s leadoff hitter in every game in 2015 and has reached base in her first at-bat in 29 of 47 games this season (22 hits, five walks, 2 HBP). Against MAAC teams, she led off the game by reaching base in 12 of 20 games (11 hits, one walk). Her on-base percentage is .610 when she leads off any inning this year. Filicia currently owns a .406 batting average off a team-best 65 hits. Her hit total also ranks first in the MAAC. She closed out the regular season with a nine-game hitting streak (17 of 34 - .500) and had a hit in 17 of the last 18 regular-season games (28 of 66 - .424). Filicia has posted a base hit in 42 of her 47 appearances this year which includes a season-best 15-game hitting streak from March 14 to April 6 (22 of 48 - .458). The outfielder leads the team in stolen bases with 15 (19 attempts) as well as in runs scored with 37. Filicia has struck out just six times in 139 at-bats.
The awards honor softball student-athletes from the Association’s 10 regions with first, second and third teams selected for each region. The all-region teams were voted on by NFCA member coaches from each respective region, and all the honorees now become eligible for selection to one of three 2015 NFCA Division I All-American teams.
The 2015 NFCA Division I All-America teams will be announced at approximately 5 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 27, via NFCA.org.