Softball Staff Named NFCA Mideast Region Staff of the Year
7/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | SOFTBALL
CHICAGO For the second time in three years, the DePaul softball coaching staff has been named the Mideast Region Coaching Staff of the Year by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) it was announced today.
Head coach Eugene Lenti along with assistant coaches Liz Bouck and Lindsay Chouinard led the Blue Demons to their fourth Women's College World Series and finished the 2007 season with a 47-13 record. The Blue Demons completed the NCAA Championship with a 6-2 mark and went 20-0 in BIG EAST Conference play to win DePaul's first ever regular season title in any sport. DePaul became just the second team in the BIG EAST to win 20 games, while they became the fourth team to go undefeated in league play. The 2007 team is also the first team in BIG EAST history to represent the league at the WCWS. The coaching staff tutored two NFCA All-Americans in pitching sensations, senior Tracie Adix and freshman Becca Heteniak. The pitching staff finished with the seventh best ERA (1.36) in the country, while Adix's ERA of 0.89 was the fifth lowest in the nation and Heteniak's 1.20 ERA was the 12th-best. Adix was named the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year and Heteniak was tabbed the conference's Rookie of the Year, both went 10-0 in conference play. Following the Blue Demons extraordinary run through the BIG EAST, Lenti, Bouck and Chouinard were named the 2007 BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the year. This is the fourth time one of Lenti's staffs has been honored by the NFCA. The 1999, 2000 and 2005 staffs also won the regional coaching award. DePaul finished the 2007 season ranked sixth in both the USA Today/NFCA and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Polls.