Rivier Places Four on Softball All-Conference Team
Nashua, NH – One season after winning the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship, the Rivier College Raiders were right back in the championship game yesterday trying to pull off the repeat. The fifth seeded Raiders fell just short, falling 5-4 to #2 St. Joseph's College of Maine, but the teams overall success was awarded today as four different Raiders were named to the GNAC All-Conference Team.
Catherine Roy (Dracut, MA), a freshman shortstop, headlined this young group of all stars as the only Raider to be named to the all-conference first team. Roy led the Raiders offense with an impressive .435 batting average, going 57 for 131 at the plate along with 15 walks on the season. Roy scored 45 runs and had a team high 37 RBIs this season along with a team high 14 doubles. She also ripped 1 triple and 5 homeruns while boasting a .672 slugging percentage. Roy had a .938 fielding percentage as well, making just 9 errors in 144 chances in the field.
Marissa Mercier (N. Smithfield, RI), Nicole Peacock (Warwick, RI) and Amanda Thornton (Hanover, MA) were all named to the GNAC second team. Peacock, a freshman and the teams leadoff hitter, started every game in center field for the Raiders and boasted a .322 batting average with 29 RBIs. She led the Raiders in runs scored and impressively scored 48 times in 54 chances of reaching base, crossing the plate 92% of the time that she got onto the base path. Peacock also led the Raiders with 6 homeruns on the season, including two during the GNAC playoffs, and stolen bases, snagging 25 bags in 27 chances. Her 25 steals were also good enough to put her as the leader in the entire GNAC conference.
Mercier, a sophomore first baseman and catcher, hit .343 this season with 5 homeruns and 13 doubles for 31 RBIs. The Raiders cleanup hitter battled a back injury all season, but came up big when it was needed most to help the Raiders back to the championship game. Her .610 slugging percentage ranked her third on the team and her 28 walks were the most by any Rivier batter. In the field Marissa was absolutely great, she made just one error in 210 chances for a .995 fielding percentage. Behind the plate Mercier allowed just 4 pass balls and caught two runners stealing out of 5 that made the try.
Amanda Thornton rounded off the all-conference selections. The sophomore left fielder hit .398 on the season with 7 doubles, 5 triples and 3 homeruns for a .619 slugging percentage. Thornton knocked in 33 RBIs and stole 11 bases while crossing home plate 28 times during the season. Impressively, Thornton made 118 plate appearances, but struck out just 10 times all season, making her one of the most dangerous hitters at the plate in the entire GNAC.
The Raiders playoff run started last Wednesday night as #5 Rivier hosted #8 Pine Manor. Rivier won 4-2 to advance into the double elimination portion of the playoffs and played #4 St. Joseph College of Connecticut on Friday afternoon. Rivier took down the four seed by a score of 7-1 to advance in the winners bracket and take on the top seeded Emerson College Lions. Rivier came back from a 6-2 deficit and scored 4 runs in the fifth inning to tie the score. The game went to extra innings and the Raiders scored twice in the top of the eighth inning to eventually win the game 8-7 and send the #1 seed to the losers bracket.
The Raiders took on #2 St. Joseph's College of Maine in the final game of the winners bracket and fell in 5 innings 13-2 for their first loss of the tournament. Now in the losers bracket, Rivier had to once again face St. Joseph of Connecticut. Rivier went up 3-0 after 5 innings, but St. Joseph put up 4 runs in the top of the 6th inning to take the lead. Even though the Raiders are young, they were unfazed and came right back in the bottom of the inning and scored 2 runs to regain the lead and won the game 5-4 to advance to the Championship game against St. Joseph's of Maine.
Rivier would need to beat the Monks twice in order to win the GNAC Championship and for most of the game it looked like the Raiders were going to push the tournament to the final game. Up 4-0 through five and a half innings, Rivier was in control and looking to go to the second game against the Monks for a winner take all battle, but two fielding errors led to 5 unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and gave the Monks a 5-4 lead. The Raiders were unable to score again and the Monks took the championship.
Amanda Ryan (W. Bridgewater, MA), Catherine Roy and Amanda Thornton were all named to the GNAC All-Tournament Team for their play during the playoff tournament. Ryan, a captain and the teams only senior hit .400 during the tournament while driving in 4 RBI's and scoring 6 runs. She hit 3 doubles and 1 homerun for a .700 slugging percentage and had a 1.000 fielding percentage, making no errors in 26 chances. Ryan almost tied the championship game when she hit a double off the fence in the top of the seventh inning. The ball needed to be 2 feet higher to clear the fence for a solo homerun, but Ryan was stranded at second to end the game. Catherine Roy hit .444 at the plate with 2 RBIs and 6 runs scored. She also added 3 walks and 3 stolen bases during the 6 games for the Raiders. Thornton, who came up with last season's championship game winning hit, came up with some more big hits during this tournament. She hit .316 during the 6 game stretch with a double and a homerun. She also had a 1.000 fielding percentage, making no errors in 14 chances.
