STANDISH, ME - The Saint Joseph's College softball team achieved nearly every goal set by 15th-year Head Coach Jamie Smyth '92 last spring.

In 2012, the Monks went 33-9 overall and 23-3 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play en route to claiming the #2 seed in the GNAC Tournament for the fourth-consecutive season. Buoyed by a heavy-hitting lineup and a deep pitching staff, Saint Joseph's cruised through the conference tourney with three convincing victories, including a 6-2 triumph over top-seeded Emerson College in the GNAC Championship game. With the win over Emerson, the Monks claimed their second-consecutive conference crown and would advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.

Seeded fifth in the 2012 NCAA Amherst Regional Tournament, Saint Joseph's opened play with a hard-fought 4-2 loss at the hands of #4 Keene State College, which advanced all the way to the regional championship several days later. The Monks' season would end the next day when #8 Keuka College tipped the Royal Blue by a 5-4 margin in nine innings.

The abrupt close to the 2012 campaign signaled the end of NCAA softball for the Monks' four seniors: Maddie Kluna (Standish, Maine), Maria Labbe (Lewiston, Maine), Emily Leverone (Hampton, N.H.) and Caitlin Schrum (Littleton, N.H.). The quartet ushered in one of the finest eras in program history, as St. Joe's posted a stellar 129-43 (.750) record with two GNAC titles, two NCAA Tournament appearances and an ECAC Tournament berth over the last four seasons. The four-year winning percentage posted by the 2012 group is the highest by an SJC graduating class since in nearly 10 years (2003 women's basketball, .781, 82-23).

The banner season brought a bevy of accolades, as Leverone, Labbe, Kluna, Lindsay Moore (Barrington, N.H.), Theresa Hendrix (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) and Heather Tripp (Lovell, Maine) claimed All-GNAC honors and Coach Smyth was selected as the GNAC Coach of the Year for the second time in the last three seasons. Leverone added NEISCA Second Team and NCAA DIII Regional All-Tournament awards and Hendrix, a standout two-way player, earned ECAC First Team All-New England mention following the completion of the campaign.

The Monks won games in bunches last spring with winning streaks of nine and 18 games and a 21-3 record during the month of April. The 18-game string, the second-longest stretch of success in program history, began with a 4-0 win over Emerson on March 30th and ended with a 5-4 setback versus Simmons College on April 19th.

Although the 2012 campaign turned out to be an excellent year on all fronts, the outlook was somewhat bleak in the early going as the Monks kicked off their annual southern swing to Fort Myers, Florida with three losses, falling to Finlandia, North Park and Kenyon. The three-game losing streak was just the fourth suffered by the SJC softball program over the past five seasons.

Needing a win to right the ship, the Monks came out swinging versus Mount Mary College on March 13th and toppled the Blue Angels by a 14-4 margin with 10 hits over five frames. Moore led the offensive outburst by going 3-3 with three runs, a pair of homers and six RBI and Leverone went 2-3 with three runs, two doubles and a pair of RBI in the team's first victory of the year.

The lopsided triumph seemed to lift the Monks to a new level, as the Royal Blue went on to defeat Stevens Institute (4-2), Mount Saint Mary (9-0), MCLA (11-2) and Ohio Wesleyan (1-0) to close out the spring trip with a respectable 5-3 record.

The Monks returned to New England shortly thereafter and were greeted with five GNAC doubleheaders over a 12-day span, beginning with a trip to Lasell College on March 20th. Saint Joseph's swept the Lasers with 3-0 and 13-0 wins and won both games at Albertus Magnus College (4-0, 8-2) four days later to improve to 9-3 overall and 4-0 in GNAC play.

Saint Joseph's hosted Emerson on March 30th and saw one streak end and another begin as a nine-game winning streak closed by way of a 9-0 loss in the opener and what turned out to be an 18-game win streak started with a 4-0 triumph in the nightcap. Leverone belted a two-run jack and sophomore Rae-Marie Copan (Newton, Mass.) tossed a complete-game three-hitter to help the Royal Blue salvage a split on opening day at Richard W. Bailey Field.

St. Joe's proceeded to record doubleheader sweeps over Anna Maria, Suffolk, Southern Maine, Emmanuel, Johnson & Wales, Pine Manor, Rivier and Mount Ida College over the next three weeks and held a 26-4 overall record with a 19-1 mark versus GNAC foes heading into a conference twinbill at Simmons College on April 19th.

It was business as usual for the Monks in the opener versus the Sharks, as St. Joe's rattled off 12 hits - including seven of the extra-base variety - in an 11-2 victory over Simmons. The nightcap seemed to be headed in the same direction as Saint Joseph's put up four runs in the top of the first, but the Monks allowed five unanswered runs with the help of five fielding errors and saw their 18-game winning streak come to a close as a result.

The team had two days to mull over the disappointing loss as Saint Joseph (CT) traveled to Standish to face-off against the Monks in an important GNAC doubleheader on April 21st. Hendrix, making just her third start as a pitcher, cruised through the Blue Jays' lineup in the opener and tossed the first seven-inning perfect game in program history in a 2-0 victory. The sophomore two-way player threw just 68 pitches, 48 for strikes, over seven frames in the historic achievement. The Monks won the second game (8-0) as well with the help of a 2-2, four-RBI effort from Labbe, and improved to 29-5 overall and 22-2 in conference play with the sweep.

Saint Joseph's went on to split (9-0, 1-2) with Norwich University the following afternoon and dropped a 5-0 decision to NCAA DI opponent University of Maine in the regular-season finale three days later.

The Monks opened GNAC Tournament play with a home tilt versus #3 Simmons on April 27th and blanked the visiting-Sharks, 6-0, on the arm of Kluna, who tied a personal record with 13 strikeouts while allowing only three hits over seven innings.

With the win, St. Joe's advanced to the winners' bracket and would face top-seeded Emerson, a team the Monks had not defeated in postseason play since 2008. Undaunted, Saint Joseph's rolled past the Lions, 6-1, as Copan was dominant while Leverone and Hendrix both went yard to propel the Royal Blue into the GNAC Championship the following day.

St. Joe's would face a familiar opponent - Emerson - in the title bout on Sunday, April 29th and sailed past the Lions, 6-2, to claim the program's second-straight GNAC Championship. Kluna and Moore drove in two runs apiece and Hendrix, the 2012 GNAC Tournament MVP, allowed two runs off four hits with three K's in a complete-game triumph.

After nearly two weeks off, Saint Joseph's headed to Amherst, Massachusetts to compete in the 2012 NCAA DIII Softball Tournament and took on Keene State on Thursday, May 10th. Leverone opened the scoring with a two-run blast to left in the top of the third, but the Owls knotted the game with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the inning and would secure the win with a two-run jack in the bottom of the fifth.

Now in the losers' bracket, the Monks needed to defeat #8 Keuka to remain alive in the regional tourney. Trailing 4-2 in the top of the seventh, Tripp and Moore delivered run-scoring singles to tie the game and force extra play. Danyelle Shufelt (Sutton, Vt.) and Connie Grovo (Limington, Maine) led off the top of the ninth with infield singles, but both were stranded on base. Keuka proceeded to plate the winning run with one out in the bottom of the ninth, ending the Monks' season.

NOTEWORTHY INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:

• Leverone led team in batting (.439, 58-132), hits (58), doubles (16), home runs (10), RBI (42), total bases (104), and slugging % (.788), tied for team lead in runs (45) and ranked second on the squad in OBP (.473) after walking nine times with just four strikeouts in 132 at bats. She capped her outstanding career as the Monks' all-time leader in games (172), at bats (549), runs (168), hits (258), doubles (66), home runs (37), RBI (211), slugging (.829), OPS (1.340), extra-base hits (113) and total bases (455) and currently ranks second all-time in batting average (.470) and OBP (.511). "The Masher" broke the GNAC career records for games, at bats, runs, hits, doubles, RBI and total bases during her senior season and is currently tied atop the conference home run rankings.
• Kluna led the team in games pitched (16), complete games (15), wins (11), shutouts (8), innings (100) and strikeouts (109) and posted a 1.89 ERA during her senior season. She completed her college career ranked as the Monks' all-time leader in games (78), shutouts (14) and saves (7) and currently ranks third in strikeouts (358), fourth in innings pitched (395) and fifth in victories (41).
• Hendrix led the team in OBP (.481) and triples (7), tied for team lead in walks (15), and ranked second on the squad in batting (.414, 48-116), hits (48), doubles (14), total bases (91), and slugging % (.784) in her first NCAA season. She also logged 30.1 innings in the circle with 29 K's and allowed a .129 opponent's batting average with a 1.27 ERA.
• Moore enjoyed another fine season as the Monks' starting shortstop, hitting .384 (48-125) with 45 runs, 13 doubles, three triples, six home runs and 39 RBI. She made only four errors in 165 chances all season and recorded a .976 fielding percentage.
• Copan, a control specialist, was left off the All-Conference Teams despite leading the GNAC with a 0.93 ERA. She went 8-4 with 39 K's and just five free passes while allowing a .192 opponent's batting average as one of the Monks' top hurlers during her sophomore campaign.