Horizon League Announces 2010 Softball All-League Teams and Specialty Award Winners

INDIANAPOLIS -- Cleveland State swept the specialty awards as freshman Tess Sito was named the 2010 Horizon League Player and Newcomer of the Year, senior hurler Amanda Macenko garners Pitcher of the Year accolades for a third straight season and CSU general Angie Nicholson takes home Coach of the Year honors.

Sito becomes the first freshman since 1993 (Terri Kobata, Notre Dame) to be named Horizon League Player of the Year. The honor is the second all-time for a Cleveland State student-athlete as Tenille Whiteside won the award in 1997. Sito also becomes the first Viking in school history to garner Newcomer of the Year accolades since the award's inception in 1992. Sito currently leads the Horizon League in nine offensive categories, including batting average (.436), hits (72), home runs (17) and stolen bases (39). The Elyria, Ohio, native also owns a slugging percentage of .812 with the next closest individual at .648.

Macenko picks up a third straight Pitcher of the Year award, becoming just the second player in Horizon League history to do so (Samantha Iuli, UIC). The Brunswick, Ohio, native has struck out 336 total batters this year in 313.2 innings of work. Her 36 victories is tied for first in the country adding to her career total of 116, just one shy of the Horizon League record. The senior also owns 1,028 all-time strikeouts, which also ranks second in conference annals.

Nicholson is honored with her second Coach of the Year laurel in the last three seasons and is the only coach in Cleveland State history to garner the award. She led the Vikings to a league-record 22 wins (22-2), breaking the old mark of 17 set by CSU in 2009. Cleveland State leads the conference in slugging percentage (.502), runs scored (305), RBI (273), home runs (63) and total bases (716).

The 2010 All-League First Team consists of Butler's Jenny Esparza, Cleveland State Macenko, Sito and Katelyn Ciminelli, Green Bay's Katie Cooney, Loyola's Brooke Andresen, UIC's Brooke Frydendall, Valparaiso's Sara Strickland and Sadie Conner and Wright State's Kristen Bradshaw, China Frost and Louie Haney.

The All-League Second Team features Butler's Bridget Paine and Erin Falkenberry, Cleveland State's Jessica Burt and Amy Powell, Green Bay's Melani Niederer, Loyola's Jenna Grim and Stephanie Cihlar, UIC's Melinda Macias and Devin Miller, Valparaiso's Jordan Rutkowski and Sam McGee and Wright State's Justine Shilt.

Joining Andresen, Esparza, Miller and Sito on the All-Newcomer team are Butler's Meaghan Sullivan, Cleveland State's Dara Toman, Green Bay Dani Peerenboom, UIC's Coryn Schmit, Valparaiso's Jessie Marinec and Youngstown State's Vicky Rumph.

The 2010 Horizon League Softball Championship will begin Thursday at Viking Field in Cleveland, Ohio at 10 a.m. ET and concludes on Saturday. The Horizon League Network (www.HorizonLeagueNetwork.tv) is scheduled to air all of Saturday's contests.

2010 Horizon League Postseason Honors
Player of the Year: Tess Sito, Cleveland State
Pitcher of the Year: Amanda Macenko, Cleveland State
Newcomer of the Year: Tess Sito, Cleveland State
Coach of the Year: Angie Nicholson, Cleveland State

First Team All-League
Jenny Esparza, Butler - P (Fr.)
Tess Sito, Cleveland State - SS (Fr.)
Amanda Macenko, Cleveland State - P (Sr.)
Katelyn Ciminelli, Cleveland State - DP (Sr.)
Katie Cooney, Green Bay - UT (Sr.)
Brooke Andresen, Loyola - SS (Fr.)
Brooke Frydendall, UIC - 1B (Sr.)
Sara Strickland, Valparaiso - OF (So.)
Sadie Conner, Valparaiso - 3B (Jr.)
Kristen Bradshaw, Wright State - SS (Sr.)
China Frost, Wright State - 1B (So.)
Louie Haney, Wright State - 3B (Jr.)

Second Team All-League
Bridget Paine, Butler - SS (Sr.)
Erin Falkenberry, Butler - 1B-DP (So.)
Jessica Burt, Cleveland State - OF (Jr.)
Amy Powell, Cleveland State - C (Jr.)
Melani Niederer, Green Bay - OF (Sr.)
Stephanie Cihlar, Loyola - OF (Jr.)
Jenna Grim, Loyola - C (Jr.)
Melinda Macias, UIC - OF (So.)
Devin Miller, UIC - P (Fr.)
Jordan Rutkowski, Valparaiso - DP/OF (So.)
Sam McGee, Valparaiso - P (So.)
Justine Shilt, Wright State - 2B (Jr.)

All-Newcomer Team *
Jenny Esparza, Butler - P (Fr.)
Meaghan Sullivan, Butler - 2B (Fr.)
Tess Sito, Cleveland State - SS (Fr.)
Dara Toman, Cleveland State - IF (Fr.)
Dani Peerenboom, Green Bay - IF (Fr.)
Brooke Andresen, Loyola - SS (Fr.)
Devin Miller, UIC - P (Fr.)
Coryn Schmit, UIC - 3B (Fr.)
Jessie Marinec, Valparaiso - SS (Fr.)
Vicky Rumph, Youngstown State - IF (Fr.)

* Additional member due to tie