Six Purple Knights Earn 2019 All-East Coast Conference Softball Honors

West Babylon, N.Y. - For the second time in their careers, LIU Post seniors Julia Seader (Piscataway, N.J.) and Hannah Olshevski (Robbinsville, N.J.) have earned top honors in the East Coast Conference Softball All-Conference selections. Seader was named Player of the Year and Olshevski claimed the Pitcher of the Year award in a ceremony on Friday at the league's postseason tournament. Molloy freshman, Alex Burns (Baldwin, N.Y.), rounds out the top honors as the Rookie of the Year.

Seader takes home the Player of the Year honor for the second time in three seasons after nearly winning the ECC triple crown during the regular season. The lefty swinging catcher led the ECC with 18 homeruns and 56 runs batted in. She fell just short in her triple crown pursuit with a .451 batting average, which was good for second in the league, just .005 behind the leader. In addition to homeruns and RBI, Seader led the conference in nearly every offensive category. She also topped the ECC leaderboard with 78 hits, 54 runs scored, 146 total bases, .500 on-base percentage, .830 slugging percentage. She also smacked 14 doubles on the year. Seader's name is not only on the ECC leaderboard but also the NCAA's, as well. Heading into the conference tournament, Seader led Division II in total bases, ranked third with her homerun total, and came in at No. 15 with her RBI to

Olshevski joins her battery mate in earning a top honor during her final season. The righty comes into the conference tournament with a 21-4 record to go with. and 1.75 earned run average over 164.1 innings on the season. Her win and ERA total were tops in the ECC, while she also ranked among the league leaders with three shutouts (third) and 73 strikeouts (sixth).

Burns earns the nod as the league's top newcomer. The freshman outfielder hit .290 with 47 hits, 10 of which went for extras bases (four doubles, four triples, two homeruns). Her four triples rank her second in the ECC. In addition, Burns drove in 16 runs and scored 23 on the season.

For the second straight season, LIU Post's Jamie Apicella has been named as the league's Coach of the Year by his peers. Apicella led the Pioneers to a 44-8 overall record, tying a program record for most wins in a regular season. He also guided the Pioneers to a 22-2 mark in conference play to earn the ECC Regular Season Championship and claim the top seed in the conference tournament.  

Seader and Olsehvski are joined by Hanna Finklestein (So., 1B, LIU Post), Elyssa Marmolejo (So., 2B, Bridgeport), Samantha Sabor (Jr., 3B, Bridgeport), Allison Luzzi (Jr. SS, Bridgeport), Mikayla Newham (Sr., OF, Mercy), Kaira Ramon (So., OF, Bridgeport), Megan Sneeden (Jr., OF, LIU Post), Hannah Mueller (So., U, Mercy), Courtney Greene (So., U-P, Molloy), and Katie Humhej (Jr., P, LIU Post) on the ECC All-Conference First Team.

Second Team honorees include Kylie Lacerte (So., C, NYIT), Brooke Scherer (Jr, 1B, NYIT), Leah Mele (Sr., 2B, LIU Post) Kelcy McGeehan (Sr., 3B, St. Thomas Aquinas), Ashley Landolina (Jr., SS, St. Thomas Aquinas), Jenna DiLorenzo (Sr., OF, LIU Post), Abbey Fortin (Jr., OF, LIU Post), Allie Laird (Jr., OF, LIU Post), Kaitlyn Sndyer (Sr., U, Molloy), Kaylee Stevens (Sr., U-P, Mercy), Adrianna Dilal (Jr., P, St. Thomas Aquinas), and Amanda Staheli (Gr., P, Bridgeport). 

2019 ECC Softball All-Conference
First Team
C - Julia Seader, LIU Post
1B - Hanna Finklestein, LIU Post
2B - Elyssa Marmolejo, Bridgeport
3B - Samantha Sabor, Bridgeport
SS - Allison Luzzi, Bridgeport
OF - Mikayla Newham, Mercy
OF - Kaira Ramon, Bridgeport
OF - Megan Sneeden, LIU Post
U - Hannah Mueller, Mercy
U-P - Courtney Greene, Molloy
P - Katie Humhej, LIU Post
P - Hannah Olshevski, LIU Post 

Second Team
C - Kyle Lacerte, NYIT
1B - Brooke Scherer, NYIT
2B - Leah Mele, LIU Post
3B - Kelcy McGeehan, St. Thomas Aquinas
SS - Ashley Landolina, St. Thomas Aquinas
OF - Jenna DiLorenzo, Bridgeport
OF - Abbey Fortin, LIU Post
OF - Allie Laird, LIU Post
U - Kaitlyn Snyder, Molloy
U-P - Kaylee Stevens,  Mercy
P - Adriana Dilal, St. Thomas Aquinas
P - Amanda Staheli, Bridgeport

Player of the Year: Julia Seader, Sr., C, LIU Post
Pitcher of the Year: Hannah Olshevski, Sr., LIU Post
Rookie of the Year: Alex Burns, Fr., OF, Molloy
Coach of the Year: Jamie Apicella, LIU Post