May 9, 2011

Center Valley, Pa. -- The Patriot League announced its weekly awards for May 3-8 in baseball and softball Monday.

BASEBALL: The Patriot League Baseball Tournament gets underway with the semifinal round on Saturday, and two of the participants had final tune-ups for the postseason over the weekend as Lafayette and Navy each took the field. Each school had a student-athlete earn a weekly honor on Monday, with Lafayette's Rob Froio named Player of the Week and Zach Fritz Pitcher of the Week, while Navy's Kash Manzelli took home the Rookie of the Week award. Froio and Fritz each conclude their careers with a second weekly award after previously earning a nod on March 9, 2009.

SOFTBALL: It was a quiet week for Patriot League softball teams with only one squad in action. Holy Cross dropped a doubleheader Tuesday in Worcester to Central Connecticut in the team's home finale before losing 12-7 at Hartford Thursday in its final tuneup before the Patriot League Tournament. Army and Lafayette were scheduled to play non-League games Wednesday, but Mother Nature interfered again and washed out both twinbills. All eyes will be fixated later this week on Hamilton, N.Y., when top-seeded Colgate hosts the 2011 edition of the League Tournament at Eaton Street Field. The Raiders will play host to No. 4 Army at 4:30 p.m. in Thursday's second of two contests. The day will start at 2 p.m. when No. 2 Lehigh battles third-seeded Holy Cross.

The League Tournament employs a double-elimination format similar to the NCAA Regional. Three games are slated for Friday, with Thursday's two winners taking the field against one another at noon. The losers from Thursday's games will face off at 2:30 p.m., with the winner of that game playing the loser of Friday's first game at 5 p.m. Game six of the tournament will take place Saturday at noon and, if necessary, game seven will follow right after at 2:30 p.m.


Patriot League Baseball Weekly Awards
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
ROB FROIO, LAFAYETTE Sr., OF, Midlothian, Ill.
Froio put together an outstanding week to get ready for the upcoming Patriot League Tournament, batting .500 (9-for-18) with two runs scored and three RBIs in four games for the Leopards. He extended his hitting streak to 10 games while notching three multiple-hit games, including a pair of three-hit efforts. Froio wins the Patriot League Player of the Week award for the second time in his career.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
ZACH FRITZ, LAFAYETTE Sr., P, Pottsville, Pa.
Fritz caps his career with his second Patriot League Pitcher of the Week honor for leading the Leopards to a 9-3 win over LeMoyne on Saturday. Fritz tossed his first complete-game of the season and fifth of his career while moving into fourth-place in Lafayette history with 229.1 career innings pitched. He allowed the three runs while scattering 10 hits and a walk and also striking out six in the game.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
KASH MANZELLI, NAVY Fr., 1B, Dunwoody, Ga.
Manzelli helped Navy put up an impressive performance to tune up for the Patriot League Tournament by going 2-for-4 with a run scored and five RBIs in a 14-3 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore on Sunday. The five RBIs were the most for a Navy player this season as Manzelli drove in a run in four different plate appearances. He concludes the season with his first Rookie of the Year award.

Patriot League Softball Weekly Awards
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
SAM FREGENTI, HOLY CROSS So., DP, Melville, N.Y.
The sophomore has been one of several bright spots for the Crusaders in 2011, and despite the team dropping three games last week the sophomore from Melville, N.Y., was on fire at the plate. She played in both ends of the Crusaders' Tuesday doubleheader at home against Central Connecticut and went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of doubles as Holy Cross dropped a narrow 3-2 decision to the Blue Devils. In the nightcap, she went 2-for-3 with another double as Holy Cross fell 5-0. For the day, she went 5-for-6 (.833) with three extra base hits, giving her a 1.333 slugging percentage. Fregenti is second on the team and fifth in the Patriot League hitting .358 on the season with nine home runs, 31 RBI and 13 doubles. Her .657 slugging percentage is tops in the League entering the League Tournament, which starts Thursday.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
No nominations.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
No nominations.