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Sports News: Spring 2009

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

FOUR GREYHOUNDS MAKE ALL-REGION TEAMS; BIENIEK & PAULUS NAMED TO NFCA ALL-REGION FIRST TEAM

STARKVILLE, MS --- Senior first baseman Sheri Bieniek (Lumberton, PA/Rancocas Valley HS) and sophomore outfielder Amanda Paulus (Easton, PA/Easton HS) of the Moravian College softball team have been named to the 2009 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-East Region First Team announced Tuesday by the NFCA.  Senior outfielder Erica Klelpeisz (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth HS) earned a spot on the All-Region Second Team while senior pitcher/designated player Maria DeBonis (Nazareth, PA/Notre Dame HS) was on the All-Region Third Team.

By being named to the first team, Bieniek and Paulus, who were both named to the All-Region Teams for the first time in their careers, are now eligible for NFCA All-American honors, which will be announced prior to the NCAA Division III World Series next week.

The Greyhounds under the direction of 16-year head coach John Byrne, who as a career mark of 509-156, have posted a 34-9 overall record this spring, the 16th consecutive season that Moravian has won at least 23 games, and an 11-1 mark in Landmark Conference regular season action.  The Greyhounds, which have won over 30 games ten times under Byrne including the last eight years, won their tenth straight conference title this past weekend with a second straight Landmark Conference Championship, and the program played in the conference tournament for the 14th time in 15 years. 

Moravian also received a berth to the 2009 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, its 11th berth in the last 12 years.  The Greyhounds are seeded fourth in an eight-team regional being hosted by Ramapo College of New Jersey, and will begin action on Thursday, May 7th versus fifth seed Eastern Connecticut State University at 12:00 p.m. in the double-elimination tournament.

Bieniek, who was named to the Landmark All-Conference Second Team in 2009, is hitting .363 in her final season with 45 hits in 124 at-bats, and she has team highs of 12 doubles, five home runs and 42 RBIs.  Bieniek, pictured at right, has added a .581 slugging percentage, seven walks, five sacrifice flies and a total of nine sacrifice hits.  In the field, she has 267 putouts and seven assists in 275 chances at first base and catcher during the year.

Paulus, who was on the Landmark All-Conference First Team this season and the All-Conference Second Team last spring, has the Greyhounds top batting average a .402 with 47 hits in 117 at-bats.  She has added 28 runs scored, 16 RBIs, ten doubles, a team high four triples, four home runs, a .658 slugging percentage, seven sacrifice hits and three stolen bases.  Paulus, pictured at left, has 40 putouts and six assists in 49 chances while starting all 43 games in right field for the Greyhounds.

Klepeisz, who earned a spot on the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-East Region Second Team in 2006 and 2007 as well, is hitting .364 with 43 hits in 118 at-bats to go with 24 runs, 19 RBIs, four doubles, three triples, two homers, a .500 slugging percentage, ten walks and three stolen bases.  Klepeisz, pictured at right, has added 53 putouts and four assists in 58 chances while playing left and center fields during the season, and she has been named to the Landmark All-Conference First Team each of the last two years.

DeBonis, who was named a Louisville Slugger/NFCA Second Team All-American in 2007 when Moravian reached the World Series, has a 14-7 record in the circle this spring.  She has added four shutouts, a save and a 1.60 ERA to go with 89 hits allowed, 42 runs, 26 earned runs, 43 walks and 158 strikeouts in 146 innings of action.  At the plate, DeBonis, pictured at left, has a .341 average with 42 hits in 123 at-bats, 25 runs, 24 RBIs, eight doubles, a triple, two homers, 17 walks and three stolen bases.  DeBonis, who was the Landmark Conference Pitcher of the Year last season while making the Landmark All-Conference First Team as both a pitcher and a designated player each of the last two years, also has seven putouts and 14 assists in 22 chances in the field.  DeBonis made the All-Region First Team in 2007 and 2008.

The complete NFCA All-Region Teams can be found at http://nfca.org/pagebank/?id=1298.