Hilton, NY –The Empire 8 Conference announced its 2023 Empire 8 Softball Championship All-Tournament Team on Wednesday, May 17.
2023 Empire 8 Softball Championship All-Tournament Team
Arden Hatch, Sr., P, Alfred
Jessica Remm, Fr., OF, Alfred
Hannah Flagg, Jr., OF, Elmira
Taylor Dicranian, Sr., P/1B, Russell Sage
Arianna Papas, Gr., OF, Russell Sage
Katelyn Rice, Sr., SS, Russell Sage
Kelly Cournoyer, Jr., 3B, St. John Fisher
Ainsley Evanetski, So., P, St. John Fisher
Allie Klonowski, Sr., OF, St. John Fisher *
Jess Patterson, Sr., P, St. John Fisher
* Named Most Outstanding Player
Russell Sage College's softball outfielder Arianna Papas (Castleton, NY/Maple Hill) who was also named the 2023 Empire 8 Softball Player of the Year on Monday, earned a spot as an outfielder. For the tournament, she batted .471 with eight hits, including two doubles and a triple. She added a .706 slugging percentage with 12 total bases.
Papas becomes the first Gator to earn back-to-back citations from the Empire 8 for the award after she starred for the Gators this season. The Gators' centerfielder, was a NFCA First Team All-Region pick in both 2021 and 2022, added 160 career hits, with 40 career doubles, 12 triples, and 14 home runs. Voted the 2022 Empire 8 Conference Player of the Year, she also earned first-team All-E8 honors and also tapped as the E8 Conference Player of the Week on two occasions last year and also saluted this spring twice. She was also named to the 2023 Empire 8 First Team and capped her career
On the 2023 season, she led the Gators with her.467 batting average, while connecting for a team-best 64 hits on 17 doubles, with five triples and six home runs. She also added a team-leading 36 RBI's with 109 total bases and a .796 slugging percentage having also swiped 12 stolen bases on 14 attempts. As of May 15, she is Empire 8 leader in batting average, runs scored, doubles, OPS (1.400), on-base percentage (.526) and was second in triples, doubles and fourth in home runs.
She was also named to the NFCA Watch List for Division III this spring. A starter in 41 games in 2023, she added 18 multiple-hit games in 2023 and tied the single-season hit record as well. She caps her time in a Gator uniform having batted a career-best .488 in 100 career games played (No. 31). Her 328 career at-bats is 12th best, while her 160 career hits is sixth highest. She added 40 doubles, which is tied for fifth best, while her 12 career triples is second best. Her 14 career homeruns is fifth best and her 107 career runs scored is fourth highest. She drove in 82 runs (No. 10), drew 31 walks (No. 16), and had 21 stolen bases (No. 12).
Another of the Gator graduate players, pitcher and first baseman Taylor Dicranian (Bennington, VT/Mt. Anthony Union) was named to the 2023 Empire 8 All-Tournament Team. Dicranian, who worked all 32.0 innings of the 2023 Empire 8 tournament for the Gators, had five complete games in the Empire8 Tournament with a 3-2 record and a 2.62 ERA as well. Dicranian had 146 career hits in 132 career games played. She ranks eighth in games played and hits, while her 400 career at-bats stands eighth as well. She set the school career record with 51 doubles and added eight career home runs (No. 12), 80 runs scored (No. 10)85 RBI's (No. 7) and a .365 career batting average. As impressive as her batting statistics are, her pitching numbers are just as strong.
Dicranian, a 2023 Empire 8 All-Conference First Team pick, set the program's career doubles record, Dicranian capped her year off with a .323 batting average, while also adding a 13-10 record in the circle in 25 appearances. She also had 12 multi-hit games along the way. She ranked first in wins and innings pitched in the league this spring, while ranking 25th in batting average and third in doubles.
She closes her career first in appearances with 94, first in innings pitched 447.1, second in wins (37), fourth in complete games (42), and 14th with her 94 career strikeouts. She ranks 14th all-time with a career 4.04 ERA.
Senior short stop Katelyn Rice (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) had a .267 batting average for the tournament with four hits, including a double. On the 2023, she batted .316 with 41 hits, with 46 total bases and 10 RBI's. Over the course of her career, she played in 112 games for the Gators with 111 starts. She added a .332 career354 at-bats (No.12), while connect for 114 hits (No. 14) including 17 doubles (No. 19). She also ranks 15th with her 71 runs scored with 44 RBI's (No. 30).
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