Seven Purple Knights Earn 2022 All-ECC Softball Honors

West Babylon, N.Y. – D'Youville senior Maddy Pepke (Lancaster, N.Y.) and Bridgeport standouts Kaite Burawski (Hartly, Del.) and Madison D'Amato (Warwick, R.I.) earned top honors in the East Coast Conference Softball All-Conference awards announced on Friday afternoon. Pepke becomes the first student-athlete from D'Youville in any sport to be named an ECC Player of the Year, while Burawski repeats as the conference's Pitcher of the Year. D'Amato was named the league's top newcomer by claiming the Rookie of the Year award.

Pepke was the ECC's top hitter this season, finishing with a .481 batting average. Her average would currently rank seventh in all of Division II  but D'Youville does not qualify for the NCAA leaderboard while they complete their transition from Division III. Pepke also ranked second in the conference with 64 hits, 50 runs scored, 24 stolen bases, and a .511 on-base percentage.

Burawski has been one of the most dominant pitchers in all of Division II this season. She leads the ECC in nearly every statistical category including wins (22), saves (3), complete games (24), shutouts (10), innings pitched (185.1), strikeouts (304), and earned run average (1.74). On the national leaderboard, Burawski is first in complete games and strikeouts, while ranking third in strikeouts per seven innings (17.5) and fifth in wins. In addition, Burawski has shown her dominance with four no-hitters on the season.

Burawski had help on the offensive side from teammate, D'Amato. The rookie shortstop has been a spark plug atop the lineup of the highest-scoring offense in the ECC. D'Amato finished her first collegiate season with a .421 batting average and led the league with 51 runs scored, 34 walks, and a .535 on-base percentage. Like Burawski, D'Amato's name can be found among the national leaders, with ranks in the top-20 in walks per game (18th) and on-base percentage (13th)

St. Thomas Aquinas' Kristen Sullivan wraps up the top honors after being named Coach of the Year by her peers. Sullivan led the Spartans to their first-ever ECC Regular Season Championship and head into conference tournament play ranked No. 9 in the NCAA Division II East Region poll.

2022 ECC Softball All-Conference
First Team
C - Hannah Bardeen, D'Youville
1B - Taylor Yates, Bridgeport
2B - Maddy Pepke, D'Youville
3B - Kiana Robinson, Bridgeport
SS - Madison D'Amato, Bridgeport
OF - Alex Burns, Molloy
OF - Steph Conrade, Molloy
OF - Kaira Ramon, Bridgeport
UTL - Anissa Acosta, Staten Island
UTL-P - Abbie Landrum, St. Thomas Aquinas
DP - Samantha Schiebe, Bridgeport
P  - Kaite Burawski, Bridgeport
P - Carissa Della Vecchia, St. Thomas Aquinas

Second Team
C - Alexis Crawford, Mercy
1B - Samantha Franck, Mercy
2B - Hailey Kim, Bridgeport
3B - Emilie Olivier, St. Thomas Aquinas
SS - Chrissie Huhn, Molloy
OF - Amanda Demmerle, St. Thomas Aquinas
OF - Mikaela Milleville, D'Youville
OF - Shannon Sisco, Mercy
UTL - Amanda King, Molloy
DP - Amanda Castro, St. Thomas Aquinas
P - Alexi Benson, Mercy
P - Lauren Booth, D'Youville

Player of the Year: Maddy Pepke, D'Youville
Pitcher of the Year: Kaite Burawski, Bridgeport
Rookie of the Year: Madison D'Amato, Bridgeport
Coach of the Year: Kristen Sullivan, St. Thomas Aquinas