WALTHAM, Mass. – Senior left fielder Shannon Connor (West Haven, Conn./West Haven HS) and a quartet of juniors will serve as captains of the 2015 Bentley University softball team, head coach Michele DeGregorio announced.

The juniors are shortstop Alex Borrelli (Salem, N.H./Central Catholic HS), pitcher Kelly Ferris (Seymour, Conn./Seymour HS), first baseman Morgan Mazone (Selkirk, N.Y./Bethlehem Central HS) and catcher Jill Raia (Montville, N.J./Morristown-Beard School).

Connor has been the team's leading hitter each of the last three seasons and will enter the 2015 campaign with a .310 average and 103 career hits. The lefty swinger connected at a .315 success rate last spring and also led the team in runs scored (16) and on base percentage (.372).

Borrelli, Bentley's starting shortstop in every game during her first two collegiate seasons, led the 2014 Falcons in RBI (17) and is a very good defensive shortstop. She was fourth in the Northeast-10 in assists (96) and her .957 fielding percentage was the best among the 14 NE-10 players who had at least 80 assists.

Ferris was Bentley's most effective pitcher last season, finishing the year with a 6-3 record, a school-record and conference-leading six saves, and a 1.68 ERA. She started eight times, came in out of the bullpen on 16 occasions and allowed only four of 18 inherited runners to score. Her 1.56 career ERA ranks second in program history.

Mazone has seen sporadic action during her first two seasons, playing behind a four-year starter. Last season, she appeared in seven contests.

Raia was generally Bentley's starting catcher last year, getting the nod in 33 of 38 contests. She has thrown out nearly a quarter of the base runners who have attempted to steal against her during the last two seasons.

Bentley, 20-18 last year and picked fifth in the NE-10's Northeast Division preseason, opens its season with a 10-game trip to the National Training Center. The first game is Saturday afternoon against St. Thomas Aquinas.