2009 All-Centennial Conference Softball Team
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Gettysburg College senior
Erin Ober (Lutherville, Md./Dulaney) connected on a home run in her final regular-season at bat and she knocked another one out of the park on Thursday, April 30, earning Centennial Conference Player of the Year as voted on by the conference's head softball coaches. Four Bullets in all landed spots on the all-conference team with Ober and fellow senior
Nicole Yannotta (Whippany, N.J./Whippany Park) being named first team.
Ober and Yannotta moved up from second-team honors last spring, with the former picking up her third All-CC honor overall after being named first team as a sophomore. Joining the senior duo from Gettysburg was junior pitcher
Beth McCullough (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead), who was a second-team selection, and freshman utility player
Adrienne Rahs (Bethlehem, Pa./Saucon Valley), who was tabbed honorable mention.
Ober is the third Bullet named CC Player of the Year, joining two-time winner Mandy Wilson '02 (2001-02) and Jackie Pareso '05 (2005). The senior center fielder has put in her finest year to date in orange and blue, setting personal marks in 13 statistical categories, including leading Gettysburg in batting average (.410), runs (40), hits (48), triples (4), home runs (6), RBI (31), total bases (82), slugging (.701), and stolen bases (14). She leads the CC in runs, triples and total bases (82), while ranking in the top five in nearly every other category. Ober's numbers in conference play are even more staggering, with a .462 batting average, 17 runs, and 18 RBI in 16 games. In the final week of the regular season, she went 9-for-12 with six extra-base hits, nine runs, and 10 RBI in four games, leading to CC Player of the Week recognition.
Yannotta grabbed the conference's top selection at shortstop with another banner year. The team's lead-off hitter, she has filled that role to a tee with a team-best .475 on-base percentage, ranking fourth overall in the Centennial. She owns a .371 batting average and leads the conference with 21 walks and a school-record tying 14 doubles. Yannotta has also crossed home plate 37 times on the year, a mark that ranks second in the conference only to Ober. In the Bullets' conference contests, she hit .388 and led the team with 18 runs and 10 walks. She was also solid in the field in those 16 league tilts, committing just two errors in 60 chances (.967 fielding percentage). During Gettysburg's seven-game winning streak to end the year, Yannotta reached base 18 times and scored a dozen runs.
McCullough copped her first all-conference nod with a career year on the mound. She led Gettysburg with 13 wins and a .190 opponent batting average, finishing second in the CC in both categories. She also finished tied for second in the conference in strikeouts with 121 in 115.1 innings and was sixth overall in ERA at 1.88. McCullough posted career marks for appearances (18), games started (17), and complete games (14) and logged a pair of shutouts and one save. In nine appearances during the conference schedule, she was near-perfect with a 6-1 record, 1.74 ERA, .180 opponent batting average, and 63 strikeouts in 56.1 innings of work. McCullough fanned 10 or more batters three times, including opening the season with a school-record tying 14-strikeout performance against the College of Staten Island. She posted a no-hitter against Dickinson College on April 8 and won each of her final four conference starts. McCullough was named CC Co-Pitcher of the Week on March 16 after winning her first five starts of the year.
Rounding out Gettysburg's selections was Rahs, one of five freshmen named all-conference. Rahs split time between catcher and first base this spring and was successful in both positions, finishing with a .308 batting average and ranking second only to Yannotta in walks in the conference with 18. She started 34 games and recorded 19 runs, six doubles, 14 RBI, and a .432 on-base percentage. The Bullets best defensive player, Rahs committed only one error in 210 chances (.995 fielding percentage) at her two positions. Her performance in conference play was even better with a .372 batting average, five doubles, .488 on-base percentage, eight walks, and .491 slugging percentage, each of which ranked among the top three on the team. In a doubleheader against Franklin & Marshall College in the final week of the regular season, Rahs went 5-for-5 with a pair of doubles.
Gettysburg continues its season this weekend with the CC Tournament hosted by Ursinus College on May 2-3 in Collegeville, Pa. The Bullets, the third seed, begin the double-elimination tournament Saturday morning at 10 a.m. against Muhlenberg College.
