Sparkill, N.Y. - St. Thomas Aquinas College’s Eliana Raposo was named co-Player of the Year and Sarah Clancy was picked as Pitcher of the Year on the East Coast Conference all-star softball team, announced Thursday by league officials.

The Spartans, who were regular season ECC co-champs with an overall record of 29-21, were well represented on the all-star team. Raposo’s excellent all-around play was rewarded by sharing the Player of the Year award with Aileen Balderas of the College of Staten Island while Clancy’s late-season streak of nine straight wins earned her the top pitching award.

Joining Raposo and Clancy on the first team are teammates Elysa Marcano (second base) and Jessica Feerick (Utility). Additionally, Head Coach Kristen Sullivan was named the Coach of the Year for the third straight season.

“I am very pleased that four of our players are being recognized with all-conference honors for their excellent play this season,” said Sullivan. “Raposo had a terrific all-around season in all facets of the game. She was one of the leading offensive players in the conference, won 13 games as a pitcher and was outstanding defensively as our centerfielder. Clancy got better and better as the season progressed and won a lot of very important games for us in the home stretch of the season.”

Raposo, a sophomore, led her team in batting average (.374), on-base percentage (.422), homers (7) and RBI (46) and joined the 100-hit career club last month. In the circle, she combined with Clancy to give STAC the best pitching staff in the ECC. When she wasn’t pitching, she played exceptional defense in centerfield with great range and arm strength. 

Clancy, a senior righthander, finished the season as the ECC leader in wins (16), saves (3) and strikeouts (142). Her record against ECC teams is 9-1.

Marcano and Feerick were key performers for the Spartans, who have reached the ECC playoffs for five straight seasons not including the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign. Marcano, a sophomore, took home her second straight All-Conference accolades, while setting a new program single-season record with 64 hits and owns a .370 average with an on-base percentage of .408. She also played strong defense at second base.

Feerick, a freshman, played both catcher and third base while excelling at the plate. She is second on the team in RBI (30) and added two homers. 

Sullivan posted another memorable campaign with one of her youngest teams ever. After losing her top two starting pitchers from last year’s 32-18 team, Sullivan rebuilt the pitching staff and fielded a lineup that typically featured eight freshmen and sophomores. Faced with an extremely challenging schedule, which included two nationally ranked teams, the Spartans rebounded from a 2-10 start to win or share their third straight regular season title. This year’s team has thrived using Sullivan’s formula of pitching, bunting and baserunning. It is her fourth Coach of the Year award in her accomplished collegiate coaching career.