Orcutt, Conti & Hill Earn NFCA All-Region Honors

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced the 384 student-athletes from 197 schools who comprise the 2022 NFCA Division III All-Region teams. Emmanuel College was one of only 33 schools in the nation to have three or more student-athletes represented on an All-Region squad as senior Grace Orcutt (Lexington, Mass.), sophomore Olivia Conti (Cranston, R.I.) and junior Jadynne Hill (Haverhill, Mass.) all were voted to this year's Region I squad. A total of 12 student-athletes from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) earned All-Region honors including six from Johnson & Wales, three from Emmanuel, two from Simmons and one from Albertus Magnus.

Orcutt closes out her EC career with a First Team All-Region selection after her First Team All-Conference nod with an explosive final season. She was named the GNAC Player of the Week & NFCA Top Performer earlier in the year and hit safely in 23 of 25 contests from April 2 through May 5 including 11 multi-hit games. The Lexington, Mass. native hit .579 (22-for-38) in April in game 2's of the 12 doubleheaders played by the Saints during a 22-2 stretch for Emmanuel that included a 20-game winning streak. At first base, she ranked second overall in the GNAC in putouts and first in double-plays turned while holding a .996 fielding percentage. She also posted a 3-0 record this year in the pitching circle.

Orcutt wraps her career with a .323 batting average ranking 14^th all-time in program history. Her 95 career hits is tied for 19^th all-time while she ranks tied for 10^th all-time in doubles (18) and tied for sixth in home runs (13). She also ranks eight all-time in slugging (.517), T-10^th in RBIs (63), and 12^th in total bases (152).

Conti followed up her GNAC Rookie of the Year campaign with a Second Team All-Region nod to go along with her second consecutive GNAC First Team All-Conference selection after another incredible year. Along the way, Conti was named the GNAC Player of the Week twice as well as an NFCA Top Performer. She had a 22-game hitting streak end March 9 and during the regular season, lead the GNAC North with a .470 batting average and a .913 slugging percentage with 12 home runs to top the division while ranking second overall in the GNAC. The shortstop had 16 multi-hit games and offensively, Conti ranked in the GNAC Top-10 in total bases (1^st), doubles (1^st), slugging percentage (2^nd), hits (4^th), runs (5^th), batting average (6^th), on-base percentage (9^th) and stolen bases (9^th). Defensively she ranked fifth in total assists and fourth in double-plays turned. Conti set Emmanuel's single-season program record for home runs 12.

Over two seasons, Conti has posted a .435 average with 94 hits including 15 home runs. She's scored 71 runs, driven in 46 RBI, stolen 24 bases all while slugging at a .782 clip.

Hill earned a spot on the All-Region Third Team for the second consecutive season to go along with a GNAC All-Conference Second Team honor. Hill was named to the GNAC Weekly Honor Roll once during her final collegiate season and put together a 10-game hitting streak from April 2-14, batting .578 during the stretch in which Emmanuel opened the start of a 20-game winning streak. Since returning from their spring training Florida trip, EC went 16-1 in games when Hill recorded at least 1 RBI or scored at least 1 run. She closed out the year batting .330 with 27 RBI, 21 runs scored and a .570 slugging percentage.

Over her Emmanuel tenure, Hill batted .348 to rank eighth all-time in program annals. She finished up with 40 RBI, 38 runs scored and a .590 slugging percentage.

Emmanuel closed the 2022 campaign with an overall record of 26-12, tying the program record single-season wins mark. The Saints earned the No. 1 seed in the North Division with a 15-1 conference slate, hosting the 2022 GNAC Softball Tournament. EC advanced to the GNAC Championship series, earning Runner-Up honors behind Johnson & Wales.

All-Region players are nominated and selected by NFCA member coaches in each of the 10 Division III regions. First team All-Region choices are eligible for selection to the NFCA All-America team, which will be announced the evening of May 24 at the NCAA Division III Championship banquet in Salem, Va.

DIVISION III - REGION - I - FIRST TEAM

Position                      Name                          School

P                                  Sophia DiCocco           Tufts University

P                                  McKenna Smith           Husson University

P                                  Dani Torres Werra       Amherst College

C                                 Chloe Wilcox               Colby College

1B                                Grace Orcutt                Emmanuel College (MA)

2B                                Kaelani Gamble           Johnson & Wales University

3B                                Noelle Ruschil             Middlebury College

SS                               Josie Steinberg           Tufts University

OF                               Jordyn Johnson           Middlebury College

OF                               Abby Santis                 Middlebury College

OF                               Michelle Adelman        Tufts University

UT/P                            Abby Orso                   Colby College

DP or UT/Non-P          Ivy Geloso                   Albertus Magnus College

DIVISION III - REGION - I - SECOND TEAM

Position                      Name                          School

P                                  Sky Johnson                Tufts University

P                                  Maddie Castigliego      Simmons University

C                                 Meaghan Gurska         Johnson & Wales University

1B                                Daelyn Ross                New England College

1B                                Hailey Erickson           Johnson & Wales University

2B                                Aurora Adams             Eastern Nazarene College

3B                                Jill Pulek                      Johnson & Wales University

SS                               Olivia Conti                  Emmanuel College (MA)

OF                               Jordyn Rubin               Simmons University

OF                               Caroline Amorelli         Johnson & Wales University

OF                               Taylor Brandt               Eastern Nazarene College

UT/P                            Jordan Day                  Lesley University

DP or UT/Non-P          Mara Kipnis                 Williams College

DIVISION III - REGION - I - THIRD TEAM

Position                      Name                          School

P                                  Jewel Ashbrook           Middlebury College

P                                  Natalie Beebe              Hamilton College

P                                  Jennelle Munoz           Eastern Nazarene College

P                                  Katelyn Lipsky             Mitchell College

C                                 Sophia Sciarappa        Wesleyan University (CT)

1B                                Bailey Burger-Moore   Williams College

2B                                Ashley Ketchum          Colby College

3B                                Kenzie Dore                 Husson University

SS                               Taylor Mikolajczak       Trinity College (CT)

SS                               Gemma Landry            Mitchell College

OF                               Megan Taketa             Amherst College

OF                               Jadynne Hill                 Emmanuel College (MA)

OF                               Mackenzie Clee           Johnson & Wales University

UT/P                            Talia Bloxham             Amherst College

UT/P                            Emma Tansky             Hamilton College

DP or UT/Non-P          Bela Jimenez               Tufts University