LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Wheaton College (Mass.) softball players Sofia De La Rosa (Middle Village, N.Y.) and Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) were named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III All-Region II Third Team, it was announced by the NFCA.
The awards honor student-athletes from the Association's 10 regions with selection to one of three teams. NFCA member head coaches nominate and then vote for the winners in their respective region.
If they were not already voted to an All-Region squad, conference Players and Pitchers of the Year from member institutions are added to the third team in their region, so long as they are nominated by their member head coach and receive votes.
De La Rosa and Molinari joins senior Juliette Zito (Woodbridge, Conn.), who was named to the First Team, to give the Lyons three honorees for its highest count since 2015 when Caroline Fairbanks '17 and Emma Hart '16 were named to the First Team and Emily Berardi '15 and Emily Bouthillette '17 were Second Team selections. De La Rosa and Molinari become the first sophomores to near All-Region status for Wheaton since Fairbanks and Bouthillette were chosen in 2015.
De La Rosa was also named to the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Second Team. She enjoyed a breakout season and proved to be one of the most durable pitchers in the region, tossing 130 ? innings for the fourth-most in the NEWMAC, while twirling 17 complete games to rank 30th in NCAA Division III and second in the league. The sophomore posted a 14-7 record to rank fourth in the league circuit for wins and owned a 1.99 ERA to rank eighth among conference leaders. De La Rosa established herself as one of the best power pitchers in the region, striking out eight or more batters nine times, including a season-high of 14 on March 9 in a four-hit shutout over Utica College. The Archbishop Molloy graduate fanned 127 batters for the third-highest mark in the league and the 10th-most in program history. Her strikeout count also ranks her 42nd in NCAA Division III. A Business & Management major, De La Rosa spun seven shutouts to lead the NEWMAC and rank 16th in the nation, while putting her ninth in the school's all-time single-season record book. She was among the toughest pitchers to face, holding opponents to a .248 (126-508) batting clip to place 11th in the NEWMAC. Da La Rosa got off to a hot start with a pair of shutouts to open the season, allowing just five hits and no walks to go with 22 strikeouts in those two outings and was named the NEWMAC Pitcher of the Week on March 10. The second-year phenom did not allow more than two walks in any of her first eight starts to begin the campaign and fanned eight or more batters in each of her first six starts. She shined in her final outing of the year, striking out nine batters, while allowing just five hits, no walks and one earned run over seven frames in the NEWMAC Tournament against United States Coast Guard Academy on May 8.
De La Rosa is 15-7 in her two seasons in Norton and owns a 2.07 ERA in 24 appearances, including 23 starts. She has 18 complete games and has recorded 132 strikeouts in 142 innings pitched, while holding opponents to a .244 batting mark.
Molinari started all 43 games at shortstop for Wheaton. She was among the top run-producers in the region with 32 RBI and placed seventh in the NEWMAC, while owning a .409 (54-132) batting mark to rank seventh in the conference. The sophomore hit .423 (22-52) with runners in scoring position and was an integral part of the Lyons' ability to keep rallies alive with a .420 (21-50) batting clip with two outs, while knocking in a team-high 10 runs with two outs. She was fourth in the league with 78 total bases and fifth with 54 hits. The Grafton High School product belted 12 doubles and three triples to stand eighth in the conference in both categories. Her .456 on-base percentage was the eighth-highest figure in the league, while her .591 slugging mark placed her eighth as well. Molinari posted a 1.047 OPS to rank eighth and scored 26 times to place her 17th in the NEWMAC. Her ability to get on base made her one of the most reliable hitters in the league as evidenced by hitting safely in 35 of 43 games. Molinari registered 16 multi-hit games and strung together a season-long nine-game hitting streak from March 25 to April 6, where she batted .467 (14-30) with three doubles, three triples, a homer and nine RBI. The middle infielder was also named the NEWMAC Player of the Week on April 7.
Molinari is hitting .365 (89-244) in 81 career games, while starting all but two of them. She also has two home runs, 45 RBI, 10 stolen bases, 89 hits and 48 runs scored, while maintaining a .434 on-base average.
The Lyons finished the season with a 28-15 record, including 10-10 in conference play, for their highest season win total since 2015 and won three games in the NEWMAC Championship Tournament to finish third in the tourney.
