PRINCETON -- Jamie Lettire and
Kristen Schaus have earned Ivy League
yearly honors as two of nine
Princeton
softball players to be included on All-Ivy teams.
Lettire was chosen by the league's coaches as the Ivy League
Co-Player of the Year and Schaus was named the Ivy League Pitcher of the Year,
while Kathryn Welch and Kelsey Quist joined Lettire and Schaus on the first
team All-Ivy.
Princeton's four
first-teamers matched its 2006 total as the highest since 1996. In both recent
seasons, the bunch of Ivy first-teamers helped the Tigers to an Ivy League
title. This year, Princeton carries a 25-22
record into the NCAA tournament after winning its 17th Ivy title
last Sunday with an 18-2 league mark.
"It is an honor to have so many players recognized," Princeton coach Trina Salcido said. "We could not have had the success we had this year without each one of these honorees."
Lettire, a sophomore, is the 11th Princeton student-athlete to be named the league's player
of the year in his or her sport this academic year. The award is the 13th
for the Princeton softball program since it
was first awarded in 1985. The last Tiger to earn the Ivy's top honor was
Melissa Finley '05 in her sophomore season of 2003. This season, Lettire shared
the honor with Penn senior shortstop Christina Khosravi.
"With what Jamie has done for us this year, both at the plate and in the circle, it is fantastic for the league to recognize her as an Ivy League Co-Player of the Year," Salcido said. "She has responded in a big way for us so many times this year when we needed her, and that is something the league's top player comes through and does."
Schaus becomes Princeton's eighth
Ivy League Pitcher of the Year since that award began in 1994. Former teammate
Erin Snyder '06 won the honor in each of her last two seasons as the last Princeton pitcher to win the league's top award.
"I am so pleased for Kris to be selected as the Ivy League Pitcher of the Year," Salcido said. "It showed tremendous competitive spirit for her to lead our team in bouncing back from the early part of the season. Her performance in that last game against Harvard was fitting for someone who went on to be named the Ivy League's top pitcher."
Lettire, who split her time between first base and the
pitcher's circle, earned second-team All-Ivy honors last year as a utility
player. A unanimous choice for the league's first team this year, Lettire tied
Finley's program record with 14 home runs and hit .352 overall with a .455
average in Ivy League games. In the circle, Lettire went 8-3 with a 3.13 ERA
overall while racking up a perfect 6-0 record and 2.39 ERA in Ivy games.
In true Ivy League Player of the Year fashion, Lettire
boosted her candidacy for the honor in the Ivy South-clinching doubleheader
against Cornell on April 27. In game one, Lettire hit a two-run home run that
capped a six-run sixth inning and helped Princeton to a 12-11 win. In game two,
Lettire hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the
team a 6-5 win and the division title. Last Sunday against Harvard, Lettire's
three-run home run early in game two sparked Princeton
to the Ivy title-clinching victory.
Schaus has been honored annually by the Ivy League, but this
season is her first receiving the league's top pitching honor. Schaus was named
the Ivy League Rookie of the Year and first-team All-Ivy in 2005, followed it
up with another first-team honor in 2006 and a second-team award in 2007. This
season, Schaus bounced back from a difficult pre-conference schedule to go 7-1
with a 3.28 ERA against Ivy League teams. In the Ivy League title-clinching win
over Harvard last Sunday, Schaus tossed a four-hit, one-run complete game while
striking out eight to break the Princeton career record set by Snyder in 2006.
Schaus now holds the standard with 824 strikeouts.
Welch, the Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2006, made it
three years with a place on an All-Ivy team by returning to the first team this
season. As an outfielder her first season, Welch made the first-team All-Ivy
before earning second-team honors last year during her first season in the
infield. This year, she was named to the league's first team as a designated
player. Welch hit 13 home runs and batted .345 overall with a .403 average in
Ivy League games.
Quist, a sophomore outfielder, earned her first Ivy League
honor with the first-team inclusion. While hitting 13 home runs, Quist led the
team with a .358 batting average overall and .456 in Ivy League games.
Megan Weidrick, a freshman third baseman, was Princeton's lone second-team honoree. Weidrick hit .230
overall and came on strong later in the season, hitting .310 in Ivy games.
Weidrick had a three-run home run in Princeton's comeback 12-11 win in game
three of the division-clinching four-game series against Rutgers and had a
game-tying home run in game one of the Ivy League Championship Series against
Harvard last weekend.
Four Tigers were awarded with honorable mention status,
including freshman pitcher Michelle Tolfa, senior catcher Beth Dalmut, junior
second baseman Collette Abbott and freshman utility player Kristin Arguedas.
Dalmut, who took on the catching role this season, held a
place on the second-team All-Ivy in 2006 and was an honorable mention in 2005.
Dalmut hit .284 overall and .305 in Ivy games.
Abbott earned her first Ivy League honor with a .287 overall
average and .350 in Ivy games, while Arguedas, who contributed all around the
infield this season, hit .276 overall
and .306 in the Ivy.
Tolfa pitched in 22 games overall with a 7-4 record and 3.64
ERA. Against Ivy teams, Tolfa was 5-1 with a 1.88 ERA.
2008 All-Ivy Softball
Co-Players of the Year: Christina Khosravi, SS, Penn & Jamie Lettire,
1B, Princeton
Pitcher of the Year: Kris Schaus, Sr., Princeton
Rookie of the Year: Jess Lupardus, P, Penn
First Team
Pitcher: Jess Lupardus, Fr., Penn
Pitcher: Kristen Schaus, Sr., Princeton
Catcher: Alisha Prystowsky, Fr., Penn
First Base: Jamie Lettire, So., Princeton*
Second Base: Annie Kinsey, Sr., Penn
Shortstop: Christina Khosravi, Sr., Penn*
Third Base: Elise Menaker, So. Cornell
Outfield: Jenna Campagnolo, Sr., Cornell*
Outfield: Emily Henderson, Fr., Harvard
Outfield: Kelsey Quist, So., Princeton*
Designated Player: Kathryn Welch, Jr., Princeton
Utility: Amy Baxter, Sr., Brown
Second Team
Pitcher: Shelly Madick, Sr., Harvard
Pitcher: Dana Roberts, So., Harvard
Catcher: Hayley Bock, Jr., Harvard
First Base: Danielle Pineda, So., Columbia
Second Base: Ellen Macadam, Fr., Harvard
Shortstop: Alyson Intihar, So., Cornell
Third Base: Megan Weidrick, Fr., Princeton
Outfield: Ciji Rich, Sr., Columbia
Outfield: Sam Hare, Sr., Cornell
Outfield: Jennifer Francis, So., Harvard
Designated Player: Lauren Murphy, So., Harvard
Utility: Christy Autin, So., Dartmouth
Honorable Mention
Pitcher: Michelle Tolfa, Fr., Princeton
Catcher: Beth Dalmut, Sr., Princeton
First Base: Danielle Kerper, Sr., Harvard
Second Base: Collette Abbott, So., Princeton
Third Base: Melissa Schellberg, So., Harvard
Third Base: Taylor Tieman, Fr., Penn
Outfield: Katie Chifician, Jr., Dartmouth
Outfield: Keiko Uraguchi, So., Penn
Outfield: Courtney Blachford, Sr., Yale
Outfield: Ashley Sloan, So., Yale
Outfield: Lauren Huddleston, So., Yale
Designated Player: Linnea Anderson, Sr., Brown
Utility: Kristin Arguedas, Fr., Princeton
Utility: Holly Gutterud, So., Yale
* unanimous selection
