BOSTON – After impactful freshman and sophomore seasons Jill Pulek and Delaney Sylvester were honored with spots on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Regional teams, the association announced Monday afternoon. As designated player, Pulek earned a spot on the first team, while Sylvester garnered an at-large nod on the third team.
The duo possessed the two most potent bats for Suffolk this season both hitting well over .400, slugging move than .700 and boasting a .500 and above on-base percentage. These numbers not only ranked one-two on the Rams, but also sat among the top five in the GNAC. The pair, who combined for 33.4 percent of Suffolk's total RBI this season, helped the Rams to the most wins in program history with a 33-9 overall record and their second straight GNAC regular season title with an 18-4 league ledger.
In 39 games in her first collegiate campaign, Pulek already cemented a spot on Suffolk's single-season list in multiple categories. The Cheshire, Connecticut, product put together a .465 batting average, which is second on the squad and fourth in the conference and breaks Suffolk's single-season top-10. The first-team All-GNAC selection has a total of 20 extra bases hits on the year, including eight homers tying the third most on the blue-and-gold's single-season list. The lefty batter's on-base percentage of .545 paved the way in the conference, while she slugged a team-best .798, good for third in the league. Her slugging percentage lands 10th on Suffolk's single-season list, while her on-base percentage is good for eighth in the season annals. She brought in the 10th-most runs in a single-season in Suffolk history, 38, on 53 hits and scored 46 times herself, the second most in a single-season in Rams' history. Pulek is the first Ram to earn a spot on the NFCA All-Northeast Region First team since Erin McAndrews '14 in 2014.
Sylvester was recognized by the association for the second straight year as the catcher earned her first honor as a freshman in 2015 with a spot on the second team. This season, as a sophomore, she is hitting .492 on the year with 62 hits in 126 at-bats to go along with eight home runs and seven doubles. Sylvester also has driven in 46 runs on the season. The GNAC first team selection's numbers are scattered around Suffolk's single-season records; second in hits (62), fifth in batting average (.492), tied for third in homers (8), sixth in RBI (46) and eighth in on-base percentage (.542).