Thursday, May 8, 2003

BORTZ, BREY & HENNESSY NAMED TO NFCA ALL-REGION TEAMS

COLUMBIA, MO --- Sophomore shortstop Heather Bortz (Allentown, PA/Parkland HS), junior third baseman Janelle Brey (Allentown, PA/Dieruff HS) and freshman pitcher Meagan Hennessy (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Township HS) of the Moravian College softball team have been named to the 2003 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-East Region Teams announced Thursday by the NFCA.

Bortz was a member of the First Team and is now eligible for NFCA All-American honors, which will be announced prior to the NCAA Division III World Series next week. Brey and Hennessy were both members of the All-Region Second Team.

The Greyhounds won the team’s third straight Commonwealth Conference Tournament title and fourth straight Commonwealth Conference Championship and garnered the program’s sixth consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearance last weekend by winning the 2003 Commonwealth Conference. Moravian, which is 29-8 overall, has been seeded third in the NCAA Division III Regional at Ramapo College. The Greyhounds will play sixth seeded the United States Merchant Marine Academy at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, May 9th in the second game of the tournament.

Bortz, who was the Commonwealth Conference Freshman of the Year and All-Conference First Team in 2002 and the Commonwealth Co-Player of the Year and All-Conference First Team in 2003, earned a spot on the All-Region First Team after being on the Second Team last spring. She leads Moravian in hitting this season with a .492 batting average. Bortz has collected 58 hits to go along with 25 runs scored, 14 RBIs, ten walks, ten stolen bases, five doubles and three triples this spring, and she has made just eight errors in 141 chances at shortstop.

Brey, the Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year last season and a First Team All-Conference selection the last two years, has been named to the All-Region Team for the second consecutive year. She was a First Team All-Region player in 2002. Brey has continued to rewrite the Moravian record books this spring. Brey currently holds the school records for home runs in a career (21), a season (10) and a game (2); RBIs in a career (115), a season (52) and a game (seven) and doubles in a career (38), a season (15) and a game (three). Brey is hitting .409 this season with 47 hits, 39 RBIs, 35 runs scored, 17 walks, 13 doubles, four triples and six home runs.

Hennessy, who was the Commonwealth Co-Pitcher of the Year, Freshman of the Year and All-Conference First Team, has had a record-breaking debut season for the Greyhounds in the circle. She has posted a 15-4 slate with a school record 148 strikeouts and a school record-tying eight shutouts. Hennessy, who was named the Commonwealth Pitcher of the week five times this spring, has allowed just 90 hits and 32 walks in 133 innings with opponents batting just .191 against her. Of the four game’s Hennessy has lost this season, two were by 1-0 scores, and she has had no-hitters into the sixth inning twice this spring.