Penn State Behrend Lions Rack Up All-Conference Honors

Penn State Behrend softball players dominated the AMCC All-Conference teams, earning 10 total selections to the team.

The Behrend Lions took the three top awards with Julie Koman (McKees Rocks/Montour) named Player of the Year, Amy Greene (Erie/Strong Vincent) earning Newcomer of the Year,  and head coach Stacy Pondo was named Co-Coach of the Year.

Koman earned her fourth straight selection to the All-AMCC First Team.  Koman's record on the season is 16-1 with a 1.18 E.R.A.  Koman also pitched two complete game wins in the AMCC Tournament and got the save in the championship game.  Koman has been voted the conference Player of the Year for the second time.  The honor places a bookend of awards on her standout collegiate career which began in 2006 when she was named both AMCC Newcomer of the Year and Player of the Year.  Greene had a great freshman year batting .423 which was good for second on the team.  Greene led the blue and white with 16 doubles and six homeruns on the year. 

Nikki Kaschauer (South Park/South Park), the 2007 player of the year, was also named to the first team.  Kaschauer was one of five Behrend Lions that batted above .400.  At a clip of .412, Kaschauer came up clutch in big situations and was stellar on the defensive side of the plate.  Kaschauer fielded at a .972 mark committing only three errors in 109 chances.  This marks the fourth time that Kaschauer has made the all-conference team.  Rachelle Lawrence (Warren Center/Northeast Bradford) makes the all-conference team for the first time in four years.  She joins Kaschauer and Greene in the .400 club, batting .421 and is leading the team in hits (45), RBIs (33) and triples (6).  Katie Whitby (Tyrone/Tyrone) rounds out the first team selections. This is the fourth time that she has been named to the first team.  Whitby has been solid throughout her career and thus far has had a great senior season.  Whitby has gone 42-for-102 for a .412 batting average.  She is second on the team in triples with five and third on the team in hits with 42. 

Emma Hahn (Smethport/Smethport), Laura Frischkorn (Beaver Falls/Beaver Falls), Ashley Gruber (Burton, OH/Berkshire) and Beth Papalia (Warren/Warren) were named to the second team.  Hahn was terrific in her first season going  10-3 with a 1.58 ERA while striking out 89 batters.  Hahn picked up the win in the AMCC Championship game going six and two-thirds while giving up only two hits and striking out 10.  Papalia leads the team in batting average at .436.

Completing the selections to the all-conference team was honorable mention outfielder Allison Babish (Coraopolis/Montour).  This is the second time that she has made the honorable mention team with a selection in 2008 as well. Babish is batting .388 with five doubles on the year.

After claiming the AMCC Championship on Sunday, the Penn State Behrend softball team has earned its third bid in the last four years to the NCAA Tournament and will face Buffalo State in the first round on Thursday, May 7 in Ithaca, NY.