Landmark Produces Five Softball All-Region Honorees

MADISON, N.J. - Five Landmark Conference softball players have been honored with selections to the 2009 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III All-Region Teams.

Four members of the Landmark Champion Moravian College team were recognized, while the United States Merchant Marine Academy claimed one All-Region selection. For Moravian senior Sheri Bieniek and Amanda Paulus were both named to the first team from the East Region, while senior Erica Klepeisz and senior Maria DeBonis earned second and third-team recognition respectively. For USMMA, junior Jesselyn LaValley was picked as a second-team representative from the Atlantic Region.

Bieniek, who was named to the Landmark All-Conference Second Team in 2009, is hitting .363 in her final season with 45 hits in 124 at-bats, and she has team highs of 12 doubles, five home runs and 42 RBIs. Bieniek, pictured at right, has added a .581 slugging percentage, seven walks, five sacrifice flies and a total of nine sacrifice hits. In the field, she has 267 putouts and seven assists in 275 chances at first base and catcher during the year.

Paulus, who was on the Landmark All-Conference First Team this season and the All-Conference Second Team last spring, has the Greyhounds top batting average a .402 with 47 hits in 117 at-bats. She has added 28 runs scored, 16 RBIs, ten doubles, a team high four triples, four home runs, a .658 slugging percentage, seven sacrifice hits and three stolen bases. Paulus has 40 putouts and six assists in 49 chances while starting all 43 games in right field for the Greyhounds.

Klepeisz, who earned a spot on the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-East Region Second Team in 2006 and 2007 as well, is hitting .364 with 43 hits in 118 at-bats to go with 24 runs, 19 RBIs, four doubles, three triples, two homers, a .500 slugging percentage, ten walks and three stolen bases. Klepeisz has added 53 putouts and four assists in 58 chances while playing left and center fields during the season, and she has been named to the Landmark All-Conference First Team each of the last two years.

DeBonis, who was named a Louisville Slugger/NFCA Second Team All-American in 2007 when Moravian reached the World Series, has a 14-7 record in the circle this spring. She has added four shutouts, a save and a 1.60 ERA to go with 89 hits allowed, 42 runs, 26 earned runs, 43 walks and 158 strikeouts in 146 innings of action. At the plate she has a .341 average with 42 hits in 123 at-bats, 25 runs, 24 RBIs, eight doubles, a triple, two homers, 17 walks and three stolen bases. DeBonis, who was the Landmark Conference Pitcher of the Year last season while making the Landmark All-Conference First Team as both a pitcher and a designated player each of the last two years, also has seven putouts and 14 assists in 22 chances in the field. DeBonis made the All-Region First Team in 2007 and 2008.

LaValley was selected to the team in the at large spot after being named the Landmark Player of the Year and earning first-team All-Conference honors. LaValley finished the season ranked in nine different offensive categories in the Landmark Conference. She led the league in both on base percentage (.487) and stolen bases with nine. She finished second in homeruns with five, third in batting average at .413 and fourth in slugging percentage at .644. LaValley took fifth in total bases with 67, runs with 29 and walks with 15. She also drove in 19 runs on the season and received player of the week honors during the season.

The Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Region Teams is made up of eight regions, with three 15-player teams per region.

Story provided by Moravian and USMMA Sports Information