Monday, May 8, 2006

FOUR GREYHOUNDS MAKE ALL-REGION TEAMS; HENNESSY & McWILLIAMS NAMED TO NFCA ALL-REGION FIRST TEAM

STARKVILLE, MS --- Senior pitcher Meagan Hennessy (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Township HS) and senior designated player Richelle McWilliams (Riegelsville, PA/Easton HS) of the Moravian College softball team have been named to the 2006 National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-East Region First Team announced Monday by the NFCA. Sophomore third baseman Kelly Santry (Hatboro, PA/Upper Moreland HS) and freshman outfielder Erica Klepeisz (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth HS) earned spots on the All-Region Second Team.

By being named to the first team, Hennessy, who was an at-large selection to the first team, and McWilliams are now eligible for NFCA All-American honors, which will be announced prior to the NCAA Division III World Series next week.

The Greyhounds won the team’s sixth straight Commonwealth Conference Tournament title and seventh straight Commonwealth Conference Championship and garnered the program’s ninth consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearance last weekend by winning the 2006 Commonwealth Conference Tournament. Moravian, which is 33-7 overall, will be in action this coming weekend at an NCAA Division III Regional being hosted by Salisbury (MD) University. The Greyhounds, who are seeded fourth in the seven-team regional, will play fifth seeded King’s College at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 11th.

Hennessy, who is a two-time NFCA All-American making the first team in 2004 and the second team in 2005, is 22-5 in the circle this season with a 0.45 ERA, 14 shutouts, five saves, two no-hitters, 237 strikeouts and just 83 hits, 49 walks and 20 runs (13 earned) in 200 2/3 innings of action. Hennessy, who already owns every Moravian pitching record, is continuing to climb the NCAA Division III record books. She is 6th in career strikeouts with 834, 2nd in shutouts with 51, 7th in wins with 89, tied for 9th in career ERA at 0.86, 8th in innings pitched with 785.2, tied for 6th in complete games with 100, tied for 11th in games started with 109, and 13th games with 124. Hennessy, who has been the Commonwealth Conference Pitcher of the Week six times this season and was the Commonwealth Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player, has one hit at the plate this spring and has scored 11 runs.

McWilliams, who was on the NFCA All-East Region Second Tam a year ago, is hitting .355 with 38 hits, 23 RBIs, ten runs, eight doubles and seven home runs. McWilliams is second in school history with 22 career home runs, and she has collected 109 hits in her career.

Santry (pictured at right) has a .358 average with 39 hits, 19 runs, 14 RBIs, nine doubles and three homers, all hit in one game at Haverford College to set the single game school record.

Klepeisz (pictured below) leads the Greyhounds with 53 hits to go with a .366 average, 17 RBIs, 19 runs, seven doubles, a triple, two homers and 12 stolen bases.

The complete NFCA All-Region Teams can be found at http://www.nfca.org/pagebank/?id=871.