CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Under the helm of Ashley Waters, the 2018 Patriot League Coach of the Year, the Boston University Terriers swept this year’s postseason major awards, as the All-Patriot League softball teams and major awards were announced by the League office on Tuesday.
In addition to Waters, junior Alex Heinen was voted as the Player of the Year, while Defensive Player of the Year went to teammate senior shortstop Brittany Younan. Terriers’ freshman pitcher Ali Dubois nabbed both Pitcher of the Year and Rookie of the Year.
Heinen, a first-team All-League selection, leads the League in hits with a .373 batting average and 49 total RBIs in 54 games. She also registered 12 doubles, three triples and three homers overall this season. Heinen enters this weekend’s tournament with a .519 slugging percentage and a .402 on-base percentage.
Younan, also a first-team All-League selection, started in all 54 games for the Terriers. She has recorded 121 assists, 86 putouts, and participated in 16 double plays along with posting .967 fielding percentage. At the plate, Younan holds a .306 batting average (56-for-183) with 44 runs scored, 21 RBIs, 10 triples, six doubles, and one homer.
Dubois, a first-team All-League selection, helped her team make its third-straight tournament appearance. The freshman hurler owns a 1.77 ERA in 44 appearances in the circle for the Terriers. Dubois has earned a 25-7 win-loss record to go with 175 strikeouts in 205.2 innings pitched, while holding her opponents to a .206 batting average.
Waters, in her 3rd season at Boston University, collects her first Coach of the Year honor as she has guided the Terriers to a 36-18 overall record and a 15-3 record in League play this season. Boston University is set to host the Patriot League Championship for the first time since they joined the Patriot League in the summer of 2013. In her first year at the helm for the Terriers, she led the team to the conference title in 2016 while last season they were the 2017 Patriot League runner-up. Boston is the lone unranked team to beat two-time defending national champion Oklahoma this season, in addition to wins over Power 5 conference members Duke and Michigan State.
All seven League teams are represented on the 24-member All-League teams. Boston University, the top seed and host for the upcoming Patriot League Softball Championship, also boasted the most first-team selections with four. Fourth-seed Army West Point followed with six honorees, three on the first team and three on the second team, while second-seed Bucknell had four named to the all-League teams. The third- seeded Lehigh was represented by three student-athletes. In total, the four teams that qualified for the Patriot League Softball Championship garnered 20 of the 24 spots on the All-League teams. Colgate placed two on the all-Patriot League squads, while Holy Cross and Lafayette had one each.
The 2018 Patriot League Championship begins on Thursday, May 10 at Boston University’s softball field with the No. 1 seed Terriers taking on fourth seed Army West Point at 12 p.m. and second-seeded Bucknell facing No. 3 Lehigh at 2:30 p.m. All games can be seen on the Patriot League Network – patriotleague.tv.
2018 Softball All-Patriot League and Major Awards
Player of the Year: Alex Heinen, Boston University, Jr.
Pitcher of the Year: Ali Dubois, Boston University, Fr.
Defensive Player of the Year: Brittany Younan, Boston University, Sr.
Rookie of the Year: Ali Dubois, Boston University, Fr.
Coach of the Year: Ashley Waters, Boston University
First team
1B – Meghan Kovac, Bucknell, Sr.
2B – Lauren Hadley, Bucknell, Jr.
3B – Holly Geranen, Colgate, Sr.
SS – Brittany Younan, Boston University, Sr.
C – Alex Heinen, Boston University, Jr.
DP – Taylor Drayton, Army West Point, Fr.
OF – Emma Wong, Boston University, Sr.
OF – Jackie Brewster, Holy Cross, Jr.
OF – Nicole Yozzo, Lehigh, Sr.
P – Ali Dubois, Boston University, Fr.
P – Courtney Springman, Army West Point, Fr.*
P – Raeanne Geffert, Bucknell, So.*
At-large – Carrie Reilly, Army West Point, Jr.
Second team
1B – Kaitlin Sahlinger, Boston University, Sr.
2B – Mary-Hannah Smith, Lehigh, So.
3B – Emily Ballesteros, Army West Point, So.
SS – Brooke Wensel, Lafayette, So.
C – Virginia Irby, Colgate, So.
DP – Julienne Egofske, Bucknell, So.
OF – Kristen McPeek, Army West Point, Sr.
OF – Amelia Trotter, Army West Point, So.
OF – Jilee Schanda, Boston University, Sr.
P – Parker Boyd, Lehigh, So.
At-large – Emily Morrow, Boston University, Jr.
*Due to a tie on first-team, only one pitcher is named to second-team
ABOUT THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
The Patriot League is in its third decade of academic and athletic achievement, continually demonstrating that student-athletes can excel at both academics and athletics without sacrificing high standards. The Patriot League’s athletic success is achieved while its member institutions remain committed to its founding principle of admitting and graduating student-athletes that are academically representative of their class. Participation in athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of a well-rounded education.