6 Hounds Earn All-Conference; Dalickas Named Player of Year & Novak Selected as Rookie of Year
TOWSON, Md. --- Moravian College senior first baseman Jenn Dalickas has been selected as the 2015 Landmark Conference Softball Player of the Year while freshman pitcher Josie Novak was honored as the Landmark Rookie of the Year as the pair are two of the six Greyhounds to earn All-Conference accolades.
TOWSON, Md. --- Moravian College senior first baseman Jenn Dalickas has been selected as the 2015 Landmark Conference Softball Player of the Year while freshman pitcher Josie Novak was honored as the Landmark Rookie of the Year as the pair are two of the six Greyhounds to earn All-Conference accolades.
Dalickas was named to the First Team for the third time in four years and is joined on the First Team this spring by Novak, senior center fielder Dior George and junior right fielder Mary Schlosbon. Junior second baseman Lindsay Sullivan and freshman pitcher Amanda Carisone were named to the Second Team.
"It says a lot about the quality of the team when over half of your starters are named to the All-Conference squads," stated 22nd-year Head Coach John Byrne, who picked up his 700th career win on April 25. "They have all had very good seasons at the plate, in the field and in the circle. We wouldn't be heading to the postseason for the 21st straight year without each one of them contributing game in and game out."
Dalickas, who was also the 2014 Landmark Conference Player of the Year, leads a potent Moravian offense that is hitting .331 batting average and scoring 7.03 runs per game. Dalickas his hitting a team-high .523, which is ninth in the nation, with 45 hits this season, and she has scored 34 runs, driven in 30 RBIs and drawn a school-record 37 walks for a .664 on-base percentage (first in the country). Dalickas also leads the Greyhounds with 12 doubles, and she has connected on seven home runs to set the school record with 33 in her career. Dalickas has a .907 slugging percentage which ranks 14th nationally. Dalickas, who was on the Landmark All-Conference First Team in 2014 and 2012 and the Second Team in 2013 has also set a school record with 357 career total bases, and she is second all-time with 156 RBIs and 51 doubles and third with 197 hits. This spring, Dalickas has 174 putouts and eight assists in her second year as a first baseman.
"Jenn has been seeing the ball very well all season although she has frustrated by teams trying to pitch around her so much," Byrne said. "She is hitting for power as she broke the career home run record, and taking the ball the opposite way when teams try to pitch her outside. Everyone else in the line-up is hitting so teams really can't pitch around her, and that is making Jenn an even more dangerous part of our line-up since she's usually coming up with runners on base."
Novak has posted a 14-3 record in her debut season in the circle for the Greyhounds. She has a 1.15 ERA with five shutouts in 17 appearances with 16 complete games. Novak has struck out 133 batters, the eighth most in a single season at Moravian, and allowed just 21 walks in 110 innings of action.
"Josie and Amanda are our two outstanding freshmen in the circle this spring that have really given us quality outings and have kept us in every game. Either one of them could have been the Rookie of the Year and both are a valuable part of our success this season," commented Byrne. "Josie has also given us a strikeout pitcher that we haven't had in a couple of seasons, and she has command of a number of pitches that keeps opposing hitters off balance. We're excited to have both Josie and Amanda for three more seasons after 2015 is finished."
George is on the All-Conference First Team for the fourth consecutive year and was the second player in school history to reach 200 career hits this past Tuesday at Ursinus College, and George owns school record in runs scored with 180. She is hitting .382 while splitting time in the leadoff and third position in the batting order with Dalickas, and George has 42 hits, 37 runs, five doubles, one triple, six home runs, 11 walks, eight stolen bases and 29 RBIs. George has 36 putouts from her center field position. In her career, George has 45 stolen bases (third in school history), and she is also third in school history with 46 doubles and she is just the ninth player to have at least 500 career at-bats.
Schlosbon, who made the All-Conference Second Team in 2014, moved from left field to be the starter in right field this spring. She is hitting .398 with 41 hits, 29 runs, a double, two triples, seven stolen bases and 15 RBIs. Schlosbon, who hits second in the lineup behind either Dalickas or George, has a team high 18 sacrifices this season. She also has 32 putouts in the field.
Carisone has won 16 consecutive starts in the circle for Moravian, and she is 16-1 on the season with a 1.27 ERA in 121 innings. Carisone leads the squad with six shutouts in 18 appearances with 17 complete games, and she has recorded 90 strikeouts and allowed just 16 walks in her debut season.
Sullivan, who made the All-Conference Second Team for the second consecutive season, was exclusively an infielder this season after making the team as a pitcher a year ago. Sullivan has a .329 average with 23 hits, eight runs, three doubles and six RBIs at the plate, and she has 36 putouts and 15 assists in the field.
Moravian is 30-4 on the year and will be the second seed in the 2015 Landmark Conference Tournament after posting an 11-1 regular season mark in Landmark action. The Greyhounds will open the tournament on Friday, May 1 with a first round game versus third seed The Catholic University of America starting at 1:00 p.m. at top seed and host Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove.
