TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - The All-Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Softball teams and annual award winners, determined through voting by the league's 11 head coaches, were announced Wednesday evening. The teams were first released during an announcement show through the PAC Sports Network.

Earning PAC Player of the Year laurels was Geneva College junior shortstop Lexi Zanic, while the PAC Pitcher of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards both went to freshman Cheyenne Piper from Westminster College, who won their second consecutive PAC championship on May 8th.

Rounding out the award winners was 11th-year Grove City College head coach Kristen Cramer earning the PAC Coach of the Year honor.

Zanic's Player of the Year honor marks the third time in the last five years a Geneva player has been recognized and fourth time in program history a Golden Tornado has been selected (Sarah Johnson-2023/2021; Julia DiLonardo-2012). Zanic ranked in the top 10 in the PAC in numerous categories, including ninth in batting average (.411) and RBIs (34), sixth in on-base percentage (.478) and stolen bases (18), tied for second in runs scored (44), tied for sixth in hits (53) and  third in walks (22). In the field, Zanic also ranked second in the league with 76 assists from her shortstop position. 

As good as she was through the season, Zanic was a real catalyst in PAC games. She hit .481 in PAC games, second-highest among conference players, and her .556 on-base percentage, aided by 14 walks, was tops by any player in league action. Zanic hit safely in 16 of 20 PAC regular season games, including seven contests with multiple hits, highlighted by five-hit efforts in twinbill sweeps over Saint Vincent and Chatham.

Piper's Pitcher and Newcomer combo awards is the second time a PAC player has won both of those honors in the same season and first since Waynesburg's Sydney Wilson in 2022. She is also the first Westminster player to win the top first-year award. The right-hander's numbers were outstanding, as she ranked second in the PAC with 16 wins and 148 strikeouts in 128 innings pitched, while posting a 1.41 earned run average and allowing teams to hit a paltry .167, the lowest average against any PAC pitcher this year.

As the season and conference games rolled on, Piper was masterful, particularly late in the year. Of her nine wins in regular season PAC games, Piper logged five complete-game shutouts and five of her six games with double-digit strikeouts came in conference match-ups. One of her top highlights during the season came on April 23rd when Piper threw all 16 innings and struck out 15 in a 4-3 victory over Thiel.

Piper was even more dominant in the PAC Tournament. Capped when she threw a four-hit shutout a 7-0 win over Grove City in the title game, Piper went 3-0 and didn't allow a run in 19 Tournament innings pitched while giving up just seven hits and striking out 13. She was named the Most Outstanding Player following the Tournament.

Cramer earned her first PAC Coach of the Year after she guided the Wolverines to a 26-13 record, marking the third straight season the program set a new standard for single-season victories. Their 15-5 PAC record not only set a new program-mark for conference wins in a season, but it also placed Grove City first in the PAC regular season standings for the first time since 1998. 

By winning this year's championship tournament title, Westminster clinched the league's automatic qualifying bid to the Division III Softball Championship. The Titans open Regional play Thursday at 11 am against Salisbury University, who is hosting the four-team regional in Salisbury, Md. Regional round play is scheduled for Thursday-Saturday, May 15-17 and the Super Regionals will be played Thursday-Friday, May 22-23.

PAC Award Winners
Player of the Year: Geneva junior shortstop Lexi Zanic
Pitcher of the Year: Westminster freshman Cheyenne Piper
Newcomer of the Year: Westminster freshman Cheyenne Piper
Coach of the Year: Grove City head coach Kristen Cramer
 

All-PAC First Team
Position	Name	Class	School	Hometown/High School
C	Faith Jones	So.	Westminster	Volant, Pa./Wilmington
1B	Julia Hart	Grad.	Geneva	Prospect, Pa./Slippery Rock
1B	Brooke Brodie	Sr.	Grove City	Mogadore, Ohio/Mogadore
2B	Grace Higgins	Sr.	Waynesburg	Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan
SS	Lexi Zanic	Jr.	Geneva	Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver Falls
SS	Hannah Allen	Jr.	W&J	Harrison City, Pa./Penn Trafford
3B	Olivia Devries	Sr.	Allegheny	Kent, Ohio/Field
3B	Josey Michalski	Fr.	Saint Vincent	Irwin, Pa./Norwin
OF	Samantha Phillips	Jr.	Allegheny	Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon
OF	Destiny Goodnight	Grad.	Bethany	Youngstown, Ohio/Ursuline
OF	Evelyn Montone	So.	Grove City	Allentown, Pa./Parkland
DP	Alyssa Henderson	So.	Saint Vincent	Pleasantville, Pa./Chestnut Ridge
UTIL	Kimberly McDaniels	Sr.	Franciscan	Tucson, Ariz./Salpointe Catholic
P	Aleya Belardinelli	Sr.	Allegheny	Melbourne, Fla./West Shore
P	Cheyenne Piper	Fr.	Westminster	Latrobe, Pa./Ligonier Valley

 

All-PAC Second Team
Position	Name	Class	School	Hometown/High School
C	Morgan Huey	Grad.	Bethany	Hermitage, Pa./Hickory
1B	Sofia Genareo	Sr.	Allegheny	Lakewood, N.Y./Southwestern Central
1B	Olivia Kidd	Fr.	Bethany	Akron, Ohio/Mogadore
2B	Maci Linhart	Sr.	Grove City	Columbiana, Ohio/Columbiana
SS	Ava Karpa	So.	Westminster	Coraopolis, Pa./Moon
3B	Emma Jackson	So.	Bethany	Alliance, Ohio/Marlington
OF	Molly Shelley	So.	Geneva	Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point
OF	Noel Anthony	Jr.	Grove City	Clarion, Pa./Clarion
OF	Kyra Blauth	Jr.	W&J	Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills
DP	Sydney VanNess	Fr.	W&J	Warren, Ohio/Howland
UTIL	Kyla Campbell	Jr.	Grove City	Altoona, Pa./Glendale
P	Josie Wise	Grad.	Bethany	Canton, Ohio/Perry
P	McKenzie Rapp	Jr.	Geneva	Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford
P	Becca Landis	Sr.	Thiel	Kinsman, Ohio/Mathews
P	Sydney Wilson	Sr.	Waynesburg	Pentress, W.Va./Clay-Battelle

 

Honorable Mention All-PAC
Position	Name	Class	School	Hometown/High School
C	Cameron Long	Sr.	Allegheny	Midlothian, Va./Midlothian
C	Maddie Luxenberger	Fr.	W&J	Montoursville, Pa./Loyalsock Township
2B	Eva Farone	Fr.	Saint Vincent	Cicero, N.Y./Cicero North Syracuse
SS	Brooke Markland	Jr.	Bethany	Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth Forward
SS	Mackenzie Favero	So.	Saint Vincent	Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area
OF	Isabelle Griswold	Sr.	Chatham	Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport Area
OF	Janey Winner	Fr.	Franciscan	Lovettsville, Va./Homeschooled
OF	Justine Robbins	Jr.	Geneva	Fort Myers, Fla./Cypress Lake
OF	Kayley Risser	Fr.	Thiel	Reynoldsville, Pa./Dubois Central Catholic
OF	Meysa Heitmann	Fr.	Waynesburg	Morgantown, W.Va./University
OF	Sam Levac	Fr.	Westminster	Oakville, Ontario/Garth Webb
DP	Emma Covert	So.	Grove City	Chicora, Pa./Moniteau
DP	Bella DeMark	Jr.	Waynesburg	Carnegie, Pa./Bishop Canevin
UTIL	Mackenzie Herman	Sr.	Thiel	Greenville, Pa./Reynolds
P	Sophia Tvaroch	Jr.	Geneva	Newton Falls, Ohio/Newton Falls
P	Abigail Meadors	So.	Grove City	Warren, Ohio/Champion