Ellicottville’s Marsh named POY, Lafferty best pitcher in CCAA D4
The Ellicottville softball team lost just one game en route to capturing the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 4 title and has in turn been spoiled with the awards.
Senior Courtney Marsh was named the Player of the Year, freshman Katie Lafferty earned Pitcher of the Year and Matt Finn was selected as Coach of the Year.
Marsh boasted a .449 average with five home runs, two doubles and a triple with 16 runs scored; Lafferty recorded a 2.31 earned run average with 149 strikeouts over 100 innings with a 10-3 record.
Ellicottville added three more girls to the First Team. Junior Teaghan Finn hit .386 with three doubles and 17 runs scored, junior Ande Northrup finished with a .537 average, four doubles and 29 runs scored and sophomore Riley Whitmer batted .438 with two home runs, three doubles and 17 runs scored. Ellicottville added junior Kalyn Crowley to the Second Team, junior Drew Ficek was honorable mention and senior Ava Woodarek received the individual sportsmanship award.
Falconer finished second in the league and both juniors, Hannah Melquist and Emily Zaranek, were named to the First Team. Melquist hit .433 with seven doubles, nine RBIs and 12 runs scored, and Zaranek batted .491 with 10 doubles and two triples, scored 17 runs and drove in 13.
The Golden Falcons also had Nylah Sharpe and Mylie Zaranek named to the Second Team, while both Khloe Livengood and Emily Rhinehart were honorable mention. Nazariah Neal was the individual sportsmanship winner.
Portville finished third in the division and had three girls named to the First Team — juniors Madison Ford and Isabella Morales and senior Peyton Young. Alexa Schoonover was named to the Second Team, while Kylie Maedl and Ella Zeigler were honorable mention. Emily Collins was the individual sportsmanship winner for the Panthers.
Cattaraugus-Little Valley landed a pair of underclassmen on the First Team, with sophomore Riley Preston and freshman Madison Rogan. The Timberwolves also had sophomore Emma West and freshman Abby Terhune on Second Team, while Carly Preston was an honorable mention. Terhune was also picked as the individual sportsmanship award winner.
The final two First-Team spots belong to Franklinville senior Lilah Cudney and eighth-grader Grace Cornell. Joining them on the Second Team are Kaelyann Graves-Decker and Haley Rzucek. Taylor Chase and Mia Sullivan received honorable mention and Abbi Chase was the individual sportsmanship award winner.
Isabelle Contro and Lily Montaldi were named to the Second Team from North Collins, while Morgan Kreinheder was honorable mention, Eleanor Fricano was the individual sportsmanship winner and the team was named the overall sportsmanship winner.