Flushing, New York --- The City University of New York is proud to announce it’s Softball All-Stars for the 2014 season. This year the Athletic Conference has named 21 student-athletes to the list.  The College of Staten Island and Brooklyn College are tied for first place, both receiving 8 nominations apiece. In second place with 4 nominations is Hunter College, followed by Baruch with 2 nominations and Lehman with one nomination. Player of the Year Honors were handed out to CSI’s Christina Tufano, while her teammate Jacqueline Cautela received the Pitcher of the Year award. The Coach of the Year honor was awarded to Brooklyn College’s Michael Ponsiglione and the Rookie of the Year Award was given to Hunter College’s Taylor Crofts. Sportsmanship of the Year recipient was presented to Crofts’ teammate Julia Lipovac.

In her second season as a Dolphin, Christina Tufano posted amazing numbers for her team. The third baseman recorded 111 at-bats, 18 runs, and 34 hits, while averaging .324 at-bat during the regular season.The Staten Island native was recently named the Player of the Week by the Conference. On the season, Tufano was tied for the lead with one of her fellow teammates for the most RBI’s, with Tufano’s total at 17. The St. Joseph’s by the Sea grad. was also listed as fourth overall on the team.

Tufano’s teammate, Jacqueline Cautela, was also honored for her outstanding rookie season by being named the Pitcher of the Year. The Pitcher and Infielder pitched a no hitter against Hunter on April 14th and recorded 84 strikeouts over the course of 108 innings. The Staten Island native posted 11 wins and notched a 4.17 ERA which was good enough to earn her the conference Rookie of the Week award for four consecutive weeks. As a hitter, Cautela had five triples in 109 at bats. Both Tufano and Cautela’s performances helped CSI go undefeated in conference play, earning a 12-0 record to snag the top seed, followed by the Brooklyn Bulldogs in second with a 10-2 CUNYAC record.

Hunter’s outstanding Rookie Taylor Crofts was bestowed with the Rookie of the Year Award for her outstanding freshman year performance. The rookie outfielder posted huge numbers in first year and was named CUNYAC Rookie of the Week several times on the season. Crofts recorded an astounding .458 on-base percentage with a team-high 14 RBI’s. .

BC’s head coach Michael Ponsiglione was rewarded for his team’s overall finish and performance on the year with the Coach of the Year award. Ponsiglione, who was recently named BC’s interim head coach, previously taught softball on Staten Island at St. Joseph’s by the Sea. There he took his team to the Catholic Championships for four straight years and was lauded by every major New York media outlet for this achievements. Bringing his wealth of much needed experience to Brooklyn, Ponsiglione’s team improved drastically and finished second in this season’s ranking with a 10-2 CUNYAC record and 24-12 record overall. For the second year in a row, the Bulldogs have notched a 20-win season.

“I am humbled to be chosen by my peers as Coach of the Year,” said Ponsiglione. “I know how hard they work in preparing their teams to compete year in and year out. This would not have been possible without the efforts of my assistant coaches (Frank Izzo, Brittney Stratton and Kaitlyn Flynn). And it goes without saying this is an award that would not happen without the outstanding players I have been given the opportunity to work with.”

Lastly, Hunter’s Julia Lipovac earned enough votes to receive the Sportsmanship of the Year Award. Lipovac, a four starter for her team averaged .301 at-bat and earned the Player of the Week award twice in her collegiate career. But more importantly, what will be remembered most about Lipovac are her intangibles such as her attentiveness and strong leadership abilities. This senior Hawk helped lead a freshman-laden team to a third place finish in the 2014 CUNYAC standings.

All of the above named student-athletes received First Team conference nods along with several other players from around the conference. Second Team Nominations were also doled out to ten other players from around the league as well.