Softball Staff Recognized With Regional Coaching Award
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Jun. 25, 2014) - In a statement released Wednesday, the LIU Post softball coaching staff, led by Head Coach
Jamie Apicella, was named the East Region Coaching Staff of the Year by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Under the direction of Apicella and assistant coaches
Carla Campagna and
Megan Butterworth, the Pioneers won a program-best 50 games and advanced to the NCAA Division II National Championship. The green and gold also claimed the East Coast Conference regular-season and postseason championships, respectively. Additionally, Apicella was named ECC Coach of the Year and picked up career win No. 600 in a doubleheader sweep over Le Moyne on Mar. 20. In his 16 seasons at the helm in Brookville, he has never won less than 30 games in a season.
The Pioneers were an offensive juggernaut thanks to the coaching by Apicella and Campagna. LIU Post re-wrote the record books, setting five new team offensive records this season. The green and gold compiled single-season records in hits (570), runs scored (395), slugging percentage (.553), home runs (85) and runs batted in (369). Furthermore, six individual single-season records were also set by the Pioneers at the plate. Junior catcher
Aly Dzierzynski (Deer Park, N.Y.) set new single-season highs in home runs (25), extra-base hits (40), total bases (176), runs batted in (77) and slugging percentage (.907). Not to be outdone, senior shortstop
Nicole Hagenah (Hauppauge, N.Y.) reached a single-season high in runs scored (67) in the 2014 campaign. On the whole, the Pioneers hit superbly, sporting a .335 batting average and a .401 on-base percentage
As good as the Pioneers were at the plate, their pitchers proved to be dominant in the circle, thanks to the tutelage of Butterworth. The 2013 ECC Pitcher of the Year oversaw the undoubted success of 2014 ECC Pitcher of the Year
Liz Weber (Brightwaters, N.Y.). Weber pitched to the tune of a career-best 25 wins and five losses with a 2.27 earned-run average. Meanwhile, freshman
Ashley Martin (Long Beach, N.Y.) won her first 16 decisions and finished the year with a 16-2 overall record and five shutouts to her account. In addition, junior pitcher
Megan Salcido (Brawley, Calif.) won six of eight decisions, including a dominant complete-game two-hit shutout in the decisive third game of the NCAA East Super Regional against Caldwell. Finally, sophomore
Quincy Lewis (Corning, N.Y.) racked up a career-best eight saves, which was tops in the ECC and second-best in the nation. All in all, the Pioneers' pitching staff went 50-11 with an ERA of 2.22, 28 complete games and 15 shutouts, while holding opposing batters to a stingy .240 batting average.
This season, Apicella and the coaching staff oversaw the naming of eight All-Conference selections, five NFCA All-Region nominees, three Daktronics All-Americans, one NFCA All-American (Dzierzynski), one CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-American (Hagenah), the ECAC Player and Pitcher of the Year (Dzierzynski and Weber), the Daktronics East Region Player of the Year (Dzierzynski), and the Co-Most Oustanding Players of the ECC Tournament (Dzierzynski and Hagenah).
For more information on the LIU Post softball team, please continue to visit
LIUPostPioneers.com.