Official AMCC Release | AMCC Awards & All-Conference Teams
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Four members of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford softball team have earned recognition as All-Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference honorees, officials announced Wednesday.
Senior Maddy Hillery and junior Sophia Fratercangelo were voted to the All-AMCC Second Team while sophomore Gabby Carpenter and senior Grace Dadzaa were voted to the All-AMCC Third Team.
"We had a lot of team and individual success this past season," Head Coach Tina Phillips said. "Everyone put in the work. We had players, though they weren't recognized on the conference level, have breakout seasons. We don't win 23 games without total team contributions."
For Hillery, 2019 marks her second-straight season earning All-AMCC recognition, as last year she was a member of the First Team.
"Another solid season for Maddy," Phillips said. "She saved her best for last. Her power numbers and productivity were career highs and she was a strong presence in the three spot in the lineup all season."
The second baseman earned the fourth-best batting average in AMCC action at .460 and the third-best conference on-base percentage at .541 starting all 18 conference games.
Overall, she reached base in all but four regular-season games, her 14 total doubles rank second in the conference and her 18 walks are third most.
For Fratercangelo, 2019 is the first time in her career she has garnered All-AMCC honors.
"Another Panther with a breakout season," Phillips said. "Though her numbers weren't as strong the last part of the season, she was a big bat for us and only struck out three times. She also took on a new position in the outfield, which she played error-free when she wasn't our DP."
Honored as a top designated player in the conference, she hit .260 in conference play with six RBIs, 12 hits and four runs scored.
Overall, she had five multi-hit games and three multi-RBI games.
Carpenter earns the All-AMCC nod in just her second campaign as a Panther and her first as the team's regular shortstop.
"Gabby had a breakout season. No sophomore slump for her," Phillips said. "She was consistent all season. Where I was most proud was her consistency and her play defensively."
The sophomore finished second on the team with a .368 batting average and a.488 slugging percentage while tying for the team lead with 31 runs scored and 46 hits. She hit all four of her triples in conference play to finish with the conference lead in that category and finished ninth with 33 total bases in AMCC action.
Defensively, she earned a .923 fielding percentage and was part of four double plays.
Dadzaa returns as an All-AMCC honoree after earning a spot on the First Team in 2017.
"Besides having a good year at the plate with 38 hits, she saved many runs with her play in the outfield," Phillips said. "She has great catch-up speed in the outfield and covered a lot of ground. As our all-time leader in stolen bases, that's going to be hard to replace."
The outfielder hit .342 this season and finished fourth in the conference with 16 stolen bases.
In addition to her 38 hits and 21 runs scored, defensively she took away countless extra-base hits and saved many runs using her speed and athleticism to make acrobatic catches possible for very few fielders.
These four Panthers and their teammates put together one of the program's best seasons in recent time, earning the No. 3 seed and returning to AMCC playoffs for the first time since 2014 while also matching that season's overall win total of 23.