Friday, June 25, 2004

MORAVIAN’S HEATHER BORTZ AND MEAGAN HENNESSY NAMED
ECAC SOUTHERN PLAYER & PITCHER OF THE YEAR;
FIVE GREYHOUNDS EARN ALL-STAR HONORS

CAPE COD, MA --- Junior shortstop Heather Bortz (Allentown, PA/Parkland HS) and sophomore pitcher Meagan Hennessy (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Township HS) of the Moravian College softball team have been named the 2004 Player and Pitcher of the Year and earned spots on the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Southern All-Star First Team announced Friday. The Greyhounds also had three other ECAC Southern All-Stars with senior third baseman Janelle Brey (Allentown, PA/Dieruff HS) and senior outfielder Melissa Soroka (Newton, NJ/Pope John XXIII HS) earning First Team honors and senior pitcher Donna Weiner (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park HS) garnering a spot on the Second Team.

Moravian, 40-6, was ranked #1 in the nation for four weeks and recorded a 29-game winning streak. The Greyhounds earned their fifth straight Commonwealth Conference Championship, a seventh straight berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament, a first-ever NCAA Regional Championship and a trip to the NCAA Division III World Series, where the squad finished as the national runner-up.

Bortz, the 2004 Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year, lead the Greyhounds at the plate with a .448 batting average. Bortz, who drew a bases loaded walk to drive in the only run in Moravian’s regional championship win, had a single season school record 74 hits on the season and tied the school record for career hits with 191. Bortz, who had an NCAA all-division record 44-game hitting streak from April 15, 2003 to April 17, 2004, also contributed 46 runs scored, 19 RBIs, 18 stolen bases, 11 walks, eight doubles and three triples. Bortz, who was also the 2003 ECAC Division III Southern Player of the Year, was also a First Team Louisville Slugger/NFCA First Team All-American, a First Team NFCA All-Region and a First Team Commonwealth All-Conference player this spring.

Hennessy, the 2004 Commonwealth Conference Pitcher of the Year, posted a 22-4 record, a school record for victories, with a school record 11 shutouts and three saves. Hennessy, who started the season 15-0, had a 1.18 ERA in 184 innings of work, and she allowed just 125 hits and 47walks while striking out a school record 168 batters. Hennessy, who was named a First Team Louisville Slugger/NFCA First Team All-American, a First Team NFCA All-Region and a First Team Commonwealth All-Conference player, became just the second pitcher in school history with 300 strikeouts in a career. Hennessy was also named to the All-Tournament Team at both the World Series and the regional.

Brey continued to rewrite the Moravian record books this spring. Brey currently holds 17 Moravian game, season and career records and ranks in the top five of the career offensive categories she doesn’t own the record. Brey hit .384 this season with 56 hits, 45 RBIs, 34 runs scored, 13 walks, 13 doubles, a triple and seven home runs. Brey also set the school record with 111 assists in the field this season. She was named to the First Team NFCA All-Region and First Team Commonwealth All-Conference, and Brey was on the regional All-Tournament Team.

Soroka contributed a .343 batting average this spring with 49 hits, 21 RBIs, 31 runs scored, eight stolen bases, ten walks, eight doubles, three triples and two homers. Soroka was named to the First Team NFCA All-Region and First Team Commonwealth All-Conference, and she was on the World Series All-Tournament Team.

Weiner was 16-1 this season, having won her last 16 decisions. Weiner, who was named to the Commonwealth All-Conference First Team, had a 1.68 ERA, six shutouts, 79 strikeouts and just 100 hits and 40 walks allowed in 124 2/3 innings of action.

The complete 2004 ECAC Division III Southern All-Star Teams can be found at www.ecac.org.