STANDISH, Maine – The 2022 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Softball postseason accolades have been released and five Saint Joseph's College players have been honored.
Senior outfielder Ashley Emery (Madison, Maine) has earned First Team All-Conference honors, sophomore outfielder Lydia Goodnough (Kennebunkport, Maine) and junior pitcher Meredith Pence (Remington, Va.) have collected Second Team accolades, and senior catcher Bailey Rassol (Rehoboth, Mass.) and junior first baseman Olivia Howe (Arundel, Maine) are listed on the Third Team.
Emery claims her first career All-Conference honor after hitting .384 (48-125) with 26 runs, five doubles, 13 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 37 games during her senior season. The senior outfielder led the team in hits and stolen bases and ranked second on the squad in batting average and finished the year ranked sixth in the GNAC in stolen bases and eighth in hits.
In 82 career games, Emery hit .327 (69-211) with 47 runs, seven doubles, one triple, 18 RBI and 17 stolen bases.
Goodnough collects Second Team All-GNAC accolades after enjoying a breakout sophomore season with a .360 (41-114) batting average, 29 runs, 11 doubles, four triples, two home runs, 29 RBI, and four stolen bases in 38 games. The sophomore center fielder paced the Monks in runs, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, and slugging percentage (.579) this spring.
Pence takes home Second Team All-Conference after posting a 2.66 ERA with a 10-8 record and 120 strikeouts in 116 innings. The junior southpaw led the team in virtually every pitching category and ranked third in the GNAC in shutouts (4) and strikeouts, fourth in innings and strikeouts per seven innings (7.24), and fifth in wins and opponents' batting average (.238).
Her 2022 strikeouts total and K/7 average both rank fourth in SJC softball history. In 35 career appearances, Pence owns a 14-11 record with a 2.75 ERA and 154 strikeouts in 170.1 innings.
Rassol also claims the first All-Conference nod of her college career after hitting .343 (34-99) with 20 runs, eight doubles, a triple, and 18 RBI in 34 games. The senior catcher capped the season ranked third on the team in doubles, runs scored and slugging percentage (.444) and fourth in batting average, hits, and RBI.
For her career, Rassol hit .305 (65-213) with 29 runs, 12 doubles, 37 RBI and five stolen bases.
Howe rounds out the Monks' 2022 All-Conference honorees with a Third Team bid after hitting .386 (44-114) with 19 runs, nine doubles, a triple, a home run, 23 RBI, and two stolen bases while starting all 38 games as a junior first baseman. She led the team in batting average, OBP (.454), and walks (13) and ranked second in hits, doubles, and RBI this spring.
Under the watch of 25th-year Head Coach Jamie Smyth '92, the Monks posted a 20-18 record with an 11-5 mark in GNAC play and earned the #3 seed in the North Division this spring. St. Joe's hosted #4N Rivier University in a GNAC tourney play-in game on Tuesday, May 3rd and defeated the Raiders, 4-3 in nine innings, to advance to the double-elimination portion of the bracket. After falling to #2N Simmons University, 6-0, two days later, St. Joe's staved off elimination with 5-3 wins over #1S Albertus Magnus and Simmons on Saturday, May 7th, but fell one game short of the GNAC Championship with an 8-4 setback at the hands of #1N Emmanuel College the next day.
