May 8, 2008

Brooklyn, NY - Junior infielder Andrea Lazzari (Reno, NV/Wooster) was named the "Player of the Year" by the Northeast Conference tonight at the annual postseason award banquet held at Long Island University. It was the first time a Wagner softball history that a Seahawk has been bestowed with the honor. She was also one of five Wagner players that were named to the NEC All-Conference team.

Lazzari spearheads a potent Wagner offense that ranks eighth in the nation in batting average (.323), 16th in slugging percentage (.488) and 21st in scoring with over five runs per game. A product of Reno, Nevada, Lazzari currently ranks first in the NEC in home runs (10) and RBI (54), second in hits (62) and slugging percentage (.721) and third in batting average (.422). The second baseman's .517 average in league play ranks second, while her .914 slugging percentage against conference opponents is tops in the NEC. Lazzari, the NEC's Rookie of the Year in 2006, ranks sixth nationally in RBIs per game (1.15).

The junior set two new Wagner marks this year: single-season record for RBI in a season as well as hits in a single-season.

Wagner boasted the second most all-NEC student-athletes at the banquet with a pair of first team honorees and a trio of second team selections.

Senior shortstop Katie Stevens (Reno, NV/Wooster), joins Lazzari on the first team after hitting .426 with a .625 slugging percentage and a .506 on base percentage. The Reno, Nevada native, who ranks ninth nationally in runs scored with 1.02 per game, ranks first in the NEC in runs with 48. A former high school teammate of the Seahawks' Player of the Year, Stevens is the all-time hit leader in Wagner College history with currently 244 lifetime hits under her belt.

Senior catcher Victoria Batistelli (Huntington Beach, CA/Huntington Beach) earns second team accolades after hitting .339 with a .608 slugging percentage against league opponents. Batistelli's 40 RBI currently ranks second in the NEC. The West Coast product, who holds the all-time Wagner records in both homeruns and RBI earns her first All-NEC mention after solidifying her name as one of the greatest sluggers in Wagner College softball history.

Rounding out the Seahawks' all-conference picks are senior outfielder Ami Iwicki (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) and designated player Jaclyn Vanore (Palisades Park, NJ/Paramus Catholic). Iwicki hit .338 with 19 RBI and 23 runs scored and perhaps carried the most dangerous outfield arm in the conference, while Vanore hit .330 with 22 RBIs and 24 runs and earned a second-team All-NEC nod as a designated player for the second-consecutive year.

2008 NEC Softball Award Winners
Player of the Year
Andrea Lazzari         Wagner         2B      Jr.     Reno, NV/Wooster
Pitcher of the Year
Blaire Porter          Long Island    RHP     So.     Redmond,
WA/Redmond
Rookie of the Year
Jessica Calderone      Robert Morris  SS      Fr.     Wilmington, DE/St.
Marks
Coach of the Year
Sabrina Lane           Saint Francis (PA)
2008 NEC Softball First Team All-Conference
Name                   School Pos.    Yr      Hometown/High School
Jessica Nicola         MU      C       So.     South Amboy,
NJ/Sayreville War Memorial
Vanessa Mejia          LIU     1B      Sr.     Roanoke, VA/Northside
Andrea Lazzari         WC      2B      Jr.     Reno, NV/Wooster
Susan Perich           RMU     3B      Jr.     Center, PA/Center
Katie Stevens          WC      SS      Sr.     Reno, NV/Wooster
Nichole Alvarez        MU      OF      Jr.     Brick, NJ/Brick Twp.
Lauren Kemp            LIU     OF      Fr.     Scottsdale, AZ/Desert
Mountain
Brooke Panepinto       RMU     OF      Jr.     Belle Vernon, PA/Belle
Vernon
Jessie DePippo         LIU     DP      Sr.     Westlake Village,
CA/Agoura
Nicole Waligora        SFPA    UT      Jr.     Johnstown, PA/Westmont
Hilltop
Blaire Porter          LIU     P       So.     Redmond, WA/Redmond
Jenny Giles            LIU     P       Jr.     Melbourne, FL/Eau Gallie
2008 NEC Softball Second Team All-Conference
Name                   School Pos.    Yr      Hometown/High School
Victoria Batistelli    WC      C       Sr.     Huntington Beach,
CA/Huntington Beach
Annie Dubovec          RMU     1B      Fr.     Chagrin Falls, OH/Kenston
Brynn Lewis            LIU     2B      So.     Woodinville,
WA/Woodinville
Lindsay Glidden        FDU     3B      So.     Peachtree City,
GA/Starr's Mill
Celina Castillo        LIU     SS      Sr.     Redwood City, CA/Carlmont
Nicole Bender          SFPA    OF      Sr.     Patton, PA/Cambria
Heights
Emily deLong           MU      OF      Fr.     Rothschild, WI/DC Everest
Ami Iwicki             WC      OF      Sr.     Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon
Central
Jaclyn Vanore          WC      DP      Jr.     Palisades Park,
NJ/Paramus Catholic
Megan Spehar           SHU     UT      Sr.     Thousand Oaks,
CA/Thousand Oaks
Laura Caldwell         SFPA    P       Jr.     Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte
Jen Russell            SHU     P       Fr.     Seymour, CT/St. Joseph's