Canty Named Pitcher of the Year, Six Tabbed for All-Conference Honors
Owls head coach Hough was named as the loop’s coach of the year for the second straight season.
WESTFIELD, Mass. --- Westfield State senior pitcher Katherine Canty (Natick, Mass.) was named as the Massachusetts State Athletic Conference softball pitcher of the year, and Owls' third-year head coach Joe Hough was voted as the league's coach of the year as the Owls placed six players on the league's all-conference team, as was announced today by the conference.
Canty, senior 1B Sarah Bingham (Reno, Nev./Wooster), junior 3B Hannah Wodecki (Southampton, Mass/Hampshire), junior C Mia Alfonso (Pittsfield, Mass.), and graduate designated player Christina Ciampa (Rockville, Conn./Vernon-Rockville) earned first-team honors, with OF Kassidy LaTour (Lebanon, Conn. / Lyman Memorial) earning second team honors.
That group have led the Owls to a program-record 31 wins this season, and the top seed in the MASCAC Conference tournament, which the Owls are slated to host at Sullivan Field on Thursday-Saturday.
Canty has pitched to a 1.70 ERA, and posted a 12-3 record as the Owls number one starter. She leads the league in ERA, and ranks second in wins and third in strikeouts with 85. She has walked just 14 hitters in 19 appearances, and has eight complete games and three shutouts in her 12 starts.
Ciampa leads the league in hitting with a .484 batting average and ranks in the top 25 in NCAA Division 3 in that category. She has 45 hits, 10 doubles, three triples, 29 runs scored, 26 RBI and 12 stolen bases. She fielded .986 while rotating between the DP spot, catcher and the outfield. Ciampa was tabbed for an all-conference team for a fourth straight year, getting named to the second team in 2023, and the first team in '22, '24 and again this year.
Wodecki leads the league with 37 runs batted in, and has broken her own program record with 63 hits this year. She ranks sixth in the league in batting with a .456 average with 15 doubles, 2 triples and four home runs. Wodecki lands on the league's first team for the second straight year.
Alfonso ranks third in the conference in batting at .462 and is tied for the league lead with six homeruns. She fielded .983 and threw out 2 of 14 base-stealers. Alfonso earns a spot on the all-league teams for the second time in her career, as she earned first team honors as a utility player in 2023.
Bingham ranks fourth in the league with four home runs this season, and has set Westfield State's career record with her 17th career home run last week. For the season she is batting .340 with 31 runs batted in, 21 runs scored and nine doubles. Bingham was a second-team all-conference selection last year and moves up to first-team this season. Bingham fielded .990 and was part of five double plays this season.
LaTour has had a fine first season with Owls after transferring in. She has hit .347 with 42 hits, 28 RBI, seven doubles, two triples and four home runs and 37 runs scored. LaTour fielded .986 between the outfield and spot starts at catcher.
Hough was named as the loop's coach of the year for the second straight season. His team set the program record for wins for the second straight season, and with a 31-9 overall mark and an 11-3 record in conference play claimed the league's regular-season title for a second straight year.
Hough's Owls will begin pursuit of a MASCAC tournament title on Thursday, March 8 with a 3:30 game at Sullivan Field. A MASCAC conference title could give the Owls their first NCAA Tournament bid since 1982.