Posted: Apr 24, 2015

Benoit, Galeazzi headline Seahawk list of All-CCC honorees

Salve Regina softball all-conference (l-r): Nikki Bukovsky (SS, first team), Nicole Parry (P, second team), Genevieve Benoit (C, first team and Player of the Year), Francesca Galeazzi (2B, second team and Rookie of the Year).

NEWPORT, R.I. - The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) softball coaches have voted two major awards for Salve Regina University players, along with four Seahawks landing on the all-conference team. Junior catcher and co-captain Genevieve Benoit (Swampscott, Mass.) earns Player of the Year award as well as a first team nod, and freshman infielder Francesca Galeazzi (Lynn, Mass.) earns Rookie of the Year award as well as a second team selection to second base.

Benoit and Galeazzi are joined by teammates Nikki Bukovsky (Westport, Conn.) and co-captain Nicole Parry (Quincy, Mass.) on the All-CCC squad.

Salve Regina (19-15, 12-4 CCC) enters the league tournament as the No. 2 seed, after sweeping Endicott College in its final two league games with Benoit going 7-for-8 at the plate.

Benoit becomes the first Seahawk since Alyssa Ricci '99 to earn the league's top player accolade. A key cog in the Salve Regina offensive machine that is batting a CCC-best .358 with a league-best 201 runs scored in 34 games, Benoit's name is found atop the CCC leaderboard in numerous offensive categories.

In CCC games, Benoit tops all conference players with a .549 batting average, 28 hits, and ranks second with 18 runs batted in. In all games played, the junior catcher is currently tied for the conference lead with six home runs. ranks second in hits (49), RBI (34), and slugging percentage (.700).

She currently ranks the highest in school history for slugging percentage (minimum 200 at bats) with a career mark of .538 (247 at bats). Benoit's six home runs tie her with Jillian Quintana (2010) for most in a single season at Salve Regina.

Bukovsky earns her second consecutive selection to the All-CCC squad, and first on the first team. As a freshman she was second-team designated player, and in her second season she patroled shortstop for the Seahawks and assumed leadoff hitter duties. One of three Seahawk regulars batting over .400 (.408), Bukovsky leads the team in runs scored (32) and runs batted in (35). She also leads the league in the latter category, just one ahead of teammate Benoit.

Parry earns her second straight selection to the All-CCC squad as well. She opened her junior season with a three-hit shutout of nationally-ranked University of Rochester in Clermont, Fla. She has posted double-digit strikeout totals in three games this season including her second-career no-hitter on April 11 against Nichols College (W, 6-0). Parry ranks first in the league in earned run average (1.15) among qualifiers in CCC games pitched.

First-year Seahawk Galeazzi continues to shine for head coach Jessica DePolito, in her second season at the helm after earning Coach of the Year honors in 2014, not only in softball but soccer in the fall as well. The team's leading goal scorer in 2014 (six goals), Galeazzi started her first collegiate softball game in right field before moving immediately to second base and impacting the Seahawks both offensively and defensively.

Galeazzi (pronounced guh-LEE-zee) ranks fifth in the league in batting average (.468 in CCC games) while her overall batting average of .449 currently ranks fifth all-time in the school record books .

With the No. 2 seed, the Seahawks host a double-elimination round on Monday at Toppa Field in Newport. Third-seeded Endicott will play against the winner of #6 U. of New England and #7 Nichols (Saturday's play-in matchup) at 2:30 p.m. Monday on the former home to the Newport music festivals. Salve Regina plays the winner immediately following the 2:30 p.m. game.