Fresh off of CSI recently taking home Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year at the CUNYAC’s annual dinner, the City University of New York Athletic Conference has named softball pitching ace Jacqueline Cautela as its final Scholar-Athlete of the Month for the 2015-16 academic year. Sponsored by The Hospital for Special Surgery, this is the first such win for Cautela, who maintained a 3.47 GPA while being named MVP of the CUNYAC Softball Championship Tournament, won by the Dolphins.
“It’s a great honor to receive this award. It was difficult to balance school, work, and softball but I was able to balance it out and continue to be successful in the classroom as well as on the softball diamond,” said Cautela.
The Staten Island native had an impressive month of May, with two consecutive no-hitters against Lehman and Hunter in the CUNYAC Softball Championship Tournament, respectively. Her pitching was an integral part of a CSI team that went through the tournament bracket without losing a game. To cap off her great pitching performance, in which she struck out 13 batters, Cautela also hit a homerun against Lehman, helping her team win, 8-0.
In the game against Hunter, Cautela pitched her second-straight no-hitter of the tournament to lead her team to another 8-0 victory. The junior also contributed at the plate batting .378 throughout the tournament. The Staten Island native would go on to be handed the CUNYAC Championship MVP Award for her efforts both in the circle and in the batter’s box. “It was amazing to win my third straight CUNYAC Championship and I’m already looking forward to next season where we hope to win the CUNYAC title once again,” said Cautela.
After the Dolphins’ victory in the CUNYAC Tournament they were off to the NCAA’s. Cautela went 1-1 in both of her pitching performances only giving up three runs combined in these two games. CSI unfortunately would not advance past the first round after losing a second game to Manhattanville College by the score of 3-2.
Cautela has been a three-time CUNYAC All-Star and two time CUNYAC Pitcher of the Year (’13-’14,’14-’15). The star pitcher has been a part of three-straight regular season and CUNYAC title winning CSI softball teams. Off the diamond, Cautela is a Spring 2016 CUNYAC Scholar-Athlete who carries a 3.47 GPA with a Nursing major. “Jackie is a great student and a phenomenal athlete. She excels on the softball diamond and puts in even more work in the classroom and is the type of student-athlete you look to have on your team,” stated CSI head coach, Stella Porto.
The junior has known nothing but winning as a member of the Dolphins’ softball program and she will look to continue that success both on and off the field during the 2016-17 year.
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– Story courtesy of the CUNYAC
