WALTHAM, Mass. – Bentley University senior center fielder Sam Petow (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury HS) was named the Northeast-10 Conference Softball Defensive Player of the Year, Terry A. McDonough was selected as the NE10 Coach of the Year, and five Falcons, including Petow, received All-Conference recognition when the NE10 softball awards were announced Wednesday.

Bentley, in the midst of a record-breaking season, was represented on the All-Northeast-10 first team by sophomore left fielder Jordan Krause (San Pedro, Calif./San Pedro HS), junior pitcher Payton Doiron (Beacon Falls, Conn./St. Joseph HS) and junior shortstop Sabrina Grizzaffi (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield HS).

Graduate catcher Ella Hillier (Tualatin, Ore./Tualatin HS) was named to the second team and the third team included Petow as an at-large selection.

The conference also announced its first-ever All-Defensive Team with Petow and Grizzaffi Bentley's honorees.

Petow, owner of a 1.000 fielding percentage, has tracked down a team-best 61 balls in center, the most by any NE10 outfielder who hasn't committed an error this season. Entering Friday's Northeast-10 semifinal game, she's played 54 consecutive contests errorfree. Bentley's leadoff hitter most of the season, the Falcon tri-captain is third on the team in batting with a .317 average. Her 34 runs scored is fourth most in program history.

Krause, a first-team All-Northeast-10 selection for the second straight year, has been having a standout season with her batting average (.423), slugging percentage (.678) and on base percentage (.472) all second best in the conference. She's broken the school records for hits (63) and total bases (101) in a season, is one run scored away from tying that mark, and has seven homers and 35 RBI. Krause broke the Bentley career record for home runs earlier this spring and currently has 11.

Doiron has had a standout season in the center circle, with a 15-4 record, a 1.79 ERA and a school record 164 strikeouts. She is one win shy of the program single season record and has 271 career strikeouts, five away from the Bentley record. Doiron has fanned eight or more ten times, including a school record 16 in a 1-0 ten-inning win at Southern Connecticut April 22, and is tenth in Division II with 9.8 strikeouts per seven innings.

Grizzaffi, who has a .284 average, has been red-hot over the final third of the season. Since April 10, she's had 20 hits in 43 at bats and has committed only two errors in 14 games. For the season, Grizzaffi has a .950 fielding percentage, third best among NE10 players with at least 68 assists.

Hillier is second to Krause in many of Bentley's statistical categories and has a slash line of .358/.417/.448. She's scored 28 runs, driven in 26 and has been solid behind the plate with  .992 fielding percentage. On Bentley's all-time lists, the fifth-year starter owns the records for at bats (522), runs (97), doubles (40), extra base hits (49) and RBI (88).

McDonough, who is in her ninth year at Bentley and her eighth as head coach, has led Bentley to a school record win total each of the last two seasons. Last year's squad finished at 24-19, and Bentley will take a 28-13-1 record into this weekend's Northeast-10 Championships at Adelphi University. Her team completed the conference schedule at 18-5-1 with at least one win over all but one of the other NE10 member schools.

Bentley will open the NE10 championships with a semifinal game Friday against the winner of Thursday's Assumption-Franklin Pierce contest.  

NE10 Release