ATTLEBORO, Mass. - Freshman Madi McLellan (Fremont, N.H.) of the Regis (Mass.) softball team was named the New England Collegiate Conference Pitcher of the Year on Monday afternoon, and was one of six players from the Pride selected All-Conference.
McLellan was the Pride's lone representative on the First Team All-NECC, while sophomores Brianna Napoleone (Medford, Mass.) and Allie Petillo (West Sayville, N.Y.) and juniors Alexa Nejaime (Sandisfield, Mass.) and Amanda Navarro (Stoneham, Mass.) were named to the Second Team. Senior Allison Caloggero (Medford, Mass.) rounded out the Pride's All-Conference selections by earning a spot on the Third Team All-NECC for the second consecutive season. Napoleone was also selected as the Pride's representative on the NECC All-Sportsmanship Team.
McLellan is the first player in the program's 33-year history to ever be named conference pitcher of the year, dating back to the 1980s when the school started play in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. She finished the season with a record of 11-9, including 9-4 in conference play, and had an earned run average of 1.35 in 83 innings pitched in NECC games. A two-time NECC Pitcher of the Week and one-time NECC Rookie of the Week, ECAC Pitcher of the Week and ECAC Rookie of the Week during the season, McLellan led the NECC with an overall ERA of 2.15 on the season to go along with a conference-leading 135 strikeouts, shattering the Pride's all-time single season mark of 100. McLellan's most memorable performance came in an 18-0 win over Daniel Webster on Apr. 22 in which she threw a perfect game.
Napoleone finished the season with a batting average of .323 with 16 runs batted in and 15 runs scored to pick up All-Conference honors for the first time in her career. The sophomore was tied for second on the team drawing nine walks on the season and finished in third with six doubles. Petillo also earned her first All-Conference selection on the season, finishing second on the team with a batting average of .358 and on base percentage of .417. Petillo shined in particular in conference games for the Pride, batting .405 in 16 games against NECC foes.
Nejaime finished the 2017 season with the Pride's fourth best batting average, batting at a clip of .343 on the season. The junior finished the season with 14 runs batted in to go along with 11 runs scored, and came up with the biggest Pride hit of the season. Nejaime hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth inning to cap a come-from-behind 5-4 win over Elms in First Round of the NECC Tournament to advance the Pride to the double-elimination stage. Navarro led the Pride in a number of offensive categories during the 2017 season, including at bats (100), hits (33) and was tied for the lead with eight doubles. Navarro had a breakout weekend in a double header against Daniel Webster at the midway point of the season, as she combined to go 9-for-10 with nine RBIs and six runs scored over just two games.
Caloggero becomes just the fifth player in program history to be named All-Conference three times in her career. The senior was tied for fourth on the team with 27 hits on the season, while also recording 14 runs batted in. She finishes her career ranking in the top ten all-time in a handful of major offensive categories, including career RBIs (68), career hits (117), career doubles (20) and career triples (8).
Bay Path's Lauren Vallee was named the NECC Player of the Year, while Newbury's Arianna Gooden took home Rookie of the Year. Caitlin Benyi of Newbury College was named the NECC Coach of the Year to round out the conference's major awards.
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