Sports News: Spring 2004

Monday, May 10, 2004

SIX GREYHOUNDS NAMED TO COMMONWEALTH ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS;
Bortz, Hennessy & Byrne Garner Player, Pitcher & Coach of the Year Awards

ANNVILLE, PA --- The Moravian College softball team has had six players named to the Commonwealth All-Conference Teams announced Monday by the Middle Atlantic Corporation with junior shortstop Heather Bortz (Allentown, PA/Parkland HS) honored as the Player of the Year for the second straight season and sophomore pitcher Meagan Hennessy (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Township HS) named the Pitcher of the Year for a second consecutive season. Head coach John Byrne was also named the Commonwealth Coach of the Year, an award he won in 2000 and 2002.

The Greyhounds won the team’s fourth straight Commonwealth Conference Tournament title and fifth straight Commonwealth Conference Championship and garnered the program’s seventh consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearance two weeks ago by winning the 2004 Commonwealth Conference. Moravian, which is 37-4 overall and ranked seventh in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 Poll, won its regional this past weekend to advance to the NCAA Division III World Series for the first time in school history. The Greyhounds will face Chapman (CA) University on Friday, May 14th at 11:00 a.m. in the first game of the World Series at the Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Virginia.

Bortz and Hennessy were also members of the All-Conference First Team along with senior third baseman Janelle Brey (Allentown, PA/Dieruff HS), senior outfielder Melissa Soroka (Newton, NJ/Pope John XXIII HS) and senior pitcher Donna Weiner (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park HS) while sophomore designated player Richelle McWilliams (Riegelsville, PA/Easton HS) was named to the All-Conference Second Team.

Bortz, who was the Commonwealth Freshman of the Year in 2002 and the Commonwealth Player of the Year in 2003, earned a spot on the First Team for the third straight year, and she leads Moravian in hitting this spring with a .483 batting average. Bortz has collected a school record 70 hits to go along with 45 runs scored, 17 RBIs, ten walks, 18 stolen bases, seven doubles and three triples this spring, and she has made just three errors in 130 chances at shortstop.

Hennessy has had a record-breaking season for the Greyhounds in the circle. She has posted a 19-2 slate, a school record for victories, and she also has a school record ten shutouts. Hennessy, who was named the Commonwealth Co-Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year last spring, has allowed just 91 hits and 38 walks in 150 innings with 149 strikeouts and opponents are batting just .175 against her. Hennessy tossed her first collegiate no-hitter earlier this season and has an ERA of 0.89 this spring.

Brey, the Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year in 2002, has been named to the All-Conference First Team for the fourth consecutive year. Brey has continued to rewrite the Moravian record books this spring. Brey currently holds 16 school records in different game, season and career categories. Brey is hitting .398 this season with 51 hits, 45 RBIs, 33 runs scored, 12 walks, 13 doubles, a triple and seven home runs. Brey has become the only player in school history with 100 assists in the field in a season with exactly 100 so far in 2004.

Soroka, who was on the All-Conference Second Team the last two years, has contributed a .370 batting average this spring with 47 hits, 20 RBIs, 30 runs scored, eight stolen bases, eight walks, eight doubles, three triples and two homers.

Weiner, who was honored on the All-Conference First Team in 2002 and the Second Team last season, is 16-1 this season. Weiner, who has won 16 straight decisions, has a 1.59 ERA, six shutouts, 79 strikeouts and just 88 hits and 40 walks allowed in 118 2/3 innings of action.

McWilliams has a .312 batting average for the Greyhounds, and she has added 25 hits, 23 RBIs, nine runs scored, seven doubles and four home runs.