The College of Staten Island softball team is on the heels of winning their seventh consecutive CUNYAC Championship, and now the team has learned more great news from the City University of New York Athletic Conference, as five Dolphins have earned year-end honors. CSI junior Patricia Riches has won CUNYAC Player of the Year honors, while freshman Sierra Kaplanek has taken Rookie of the Year honors. They are joined by seniors Antoinette Galbo and Alison Meagher who earned first-team All-Star status, as did freshman Jaclyn Kateridge. Galbo doubled on the CUNYAC’s All-Sportsmanship Team as well.
Riches, who by the time her career is over should have rewritten the CSI record books, posted yet another outstanding campaign in 2019. The reigning third-team All-American, Riches is batting .540 this season, spreading out 61 hits, with a team-best 20 of them going for extra bases. She leads CSI with 12 doubles and four triples, an .823 slugging percentage and .566 on-base percentage. She is also tied for the team lead with 36 RBI with her 37 runs plated also leading the way. Having played and started in 32 of CSI’s 33 games this season, she boasts a .978 glove at shortstop, easily leading the team with 81 assists to go with 53 put-outs (5th on the team) against just three errors all season. Riches, who was the 2017 CUNYAC Rookie of the Year, was a first-team All-Star last season as well as the CUNYAC’s Tournament’s Most Valuable Player in 2018.
Putting up an outstanding freshman campaign, earning her Rookie of the Year status, was Sierra Kaplanek. The California native spent time all over the field, but primarily at catcher, batting .321 in her initial season, complete with 15 extra-base hits, including five homers, with 35 RBI and 23 runs scored. Kaplanek finished tied for second with nine walks this season, advancing her on-base percentage to .392. She was also perfect in five stolen base attempts.
It was hard to deny any of CSI’s other chosen all-stars this season, led by the terrific season posted by Alison Meagher. Meagher finished second on the Dolphins roster with a .388 batting average through 49 at-bats, scattering 19 hits in total scoring eight runs with 11 RBI. But her damage was done mostly in the circle, where she amassed a 9-3 overall record and a 1.41 ERA through 79.1 innings of work. Meagher allowed only 16 earned runs in those innings, as opponents batted just .195 against her. She allowed just nine extra base hits, fanning 64 batters against 33 bases on balls. This is Meagher’s second-consecutive CUNYAC All-Star citation.
Fellow senior Antoinette Galbo had an amazing senior campaign to end her career. She finished third on the team with a .364 batting average, scattering five doubles while tying for the team lead with four triples, amassing 22 RBI and finishing second on the team with 35 runs scored. The speedy Galbo also was successful on 13 of 16 stolen base attempts to lead in that department as well. The terrific fielder played a majority of the time at second base this season and was absolutely stellar, finishing with 45 put-outs and 62 assists against just two errors. Galbo was also awarded, for the second-straight year with the CUNYAC All-Sportsmanship Player of the Year award, a testament to her leadership and sportsmanship on and off the field of play. The 2016 CUNYAC Rookie of the Year, this is her second All-Star nod.
Rounding out the list of award honorees was freshman Jaclyn Kateridge. The pitcher/infielder put up a tremendous inaugural campaign. In the circle, she finished with a 7-10 record with a 3.16 ERA, firing in 99.2 innings of work, yielding just 29 walks over that stretch against 66 strikeouts, both team bests. She was named the CUNYAC Tournament’s Most Valuable Player this season, amassing a 2-0 record in the tourney. She was just as potent at the plate, where she finished the season hitting .343, finishing in a tie for third with 36 hits, with 14 RBI, and 31 runs scored, third-highest on the unit. She was also perfect in stolen base attempts (3-3), and finished third on the team with 42 assists in the field.
