FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 2, 2003

RIC’s Michele Fanelli and Casey Soares Earn All-ECAC Honors in Softball

Providence, RI—Rhode Island College senior first baseman Michele Fanelli (Pembroke Pines, FL) was named a Second Team All-Star at first base by the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) for her performance in softball this past season. Sophomore outfielder Casey Soares (Swansea, MA) was an Honorable Mention to the All-Star Team.

Fanelli closed out her softball career in 2003 while piling up the accolades. She was named the Little East Conference’s Co-Player of the Year, earned First Team All-Little East honors at first base for the third consecutive season and was selected as the team MVP for the second straight year.

She played in 34 games, starting all of them. Fanelli batted .382 with 16 runs, 39 hits, 12 doubles and 23 RBI. She owned a .500 slugging percentage, a .479 on-base percentage and a .981 fielding percentage. Fanelli leaves RIC having played in 148 games, starting 139 of them. She batted .359 with 435 at-bats, 77 runs, 156 hits, 31 doubles, seven triples, 36 walks and eight stolen bases. She owned a career slugging percentage of .462 and an on-base percentage of .417. She leaves RIC as the school’s all-time leader in hits, doubles, RBI, hit by pitch and total bases.

Soares was named First Team All-Little East as an outfielder for the second consecutive season. She played in 32 games, starting all of them. She batted .304 with 22 runs, 28 hits, four doubles and five triples, 12 RBI and four stolen bases. She owned a .457 slugging percentage, a .381 on-base percentage and a .930 fielding percentage. As a pitcher, Soares appeared in 11 games, starting eight of them. She was 5-2 with a 0.88 ERA, five complete games, one shutout and 60 strikeouts in 48.0 innings pitched.

Head Coach Maria Morin’s Anchorwomen finished the season with a 20-14-1 overall record and a 9-4-1 (second place) mark in the Little East Conference. Morin was named the Little East Conference’s Coach of the Year.

RIC saw its season end with a 1-0 loss to Southern Maine in the opening round of the ECAC tournament. It was the third time in five seasons the Anchorwomen qualified for post-season action. The softball program recorded its fifth consecutive 20-win campaign and notched its highest regular season conference finish ever (second).

RIC won in the opening round of the Little East Tournament with a 6-1 victory over UMass-Boston. The Anchorwomen fell in the double-elimination second round with losses to Plymouth State, 1-0, and Southern Maine, 3-1. Both Plymouth State and USM also qualified for the ECAC Tournament, with the Panthers taking home the title.

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