New Paltz Sports Information Department
Louisville, KY — The National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced its annual NFCA Division III teams Friday with Hawks Lindsay Roman and Jaycee Filancia earning a spot on the list.
Roman, a senior left-handed pitcher from Merrick, NY, was named to the All-Region First Team, while Filancia, a sophomore third baseman from East Fishkill, NY, earned second team honors.
Roman, named SUNYAC Pitcher of the Year for the second straight season, enjoyed her first, First-Team selection of her career and becomes just the eighth Hawk to earn first team honors and first ever as a pitcher.
"Lindsay has an excellent presence on the mound and strongly believes in her preparation and ability to be the best pitcher out there in any game," said State University of New York at New Paltz coach Krysti Maronski. "Having this mindset — the, 'want for the ball every game,' the belief in herself that she can compete with anyone — made herself even better on the mound. She has always done an excellent job of getting ahead in counts, hitting her spots well, and understanding batters.This season her WHIP was miniscule, which was a big factor in shutting down opponents and keeping big innings at bay for opponents. I am really excited for her that she can finish off her career with a first team all-region selection."
Roman improved from a breakout junior campaign with a career senior season. She finished one win shy from tying the single season program record, going 18-6 on the year in 29 appearances and 25 starts. She went 3-1 in five appearances in the SUNYAC Tournament, pitching 26.2 innings, giving up just 24 hits, five runs with three complete game shutouts en route to being named SUNYAC Tournament MVP after leading the Hawks to their very first SUNYAC title and NCAA appearance.
"This season the team and Lindsay were really focused on our overall goal of making the NCAA tournament and winning a SUNYAC Championship," Maronski said. "As a player I think when you keep your sights on the overall goals and set your individual goals to the side of those you can alleviate some of that pressure you put on yourself to be perfect. Lindsay had some really tough games in the beginning of the season with a few close hard losses to a few very good programs in which she threw really well in those games. I think coming out of those with her head held high and still optimistic were key factors in her continuing to get stronger as the season went on."
In 162 innings pitched, Roman allowed just 41 runs, 30 of which were earned, a career-low 15 walks with 89 strikeouts and 17 complete games, including eight shutouts with one save. She finished with an ERA of 1.30 which is the best in single season program history with a WHIP of .95, while holding opponents to a .229 batting average against.
Roman's impact on the program was felt throughout her career, as she leaves as one of the winningest players in program history a part of 101 wins and just 49 losses through three-plus years as a member of the SUNY New Paltz Softball team including a SUNYAC title and NCAA Regional berth, and win under her belt. As a pitcher, she holds a program record of 50-16, with an ERA of 1.52 in 448 innings pitched, third most in program history, and holds the only perfect game ever thrown by a Hawk.
"Lindsay has been such a critical component to our success the last few years," Maronski said. "She has brought a next level arm to our pitching staff which is a major part of this game. She has always been willing to put in the work and more to be the best pitcher she can be. Pitching isn't easy — your whole life you have to put in more work than most to be good and Lindsay has always done that and enjoyed pitching, which I have loved to see. She has been an outstanding player, teammate, and person whose presence is going to be deeply missed next season.
Like Roman, Filancia made an immediate impact on the program. She earned starting third baseman duties as a freshman and in her second year became one of the best overall players in the conference. But, that was no surprise to Maronski who had a feeling Filancia would make the quick transition into college softball.
"Jaycee is an unbelievable athlete. She has all the tools of an elite level softball player — speed, a great glove, can hit for power, great arm strength," Maronski said. "Jay had a great freshman season — yet one that there was definitely some learning involved and this year she just exploded into the player that I knew she would be in her time here."
Filancia broke out in her second season for the Hawks, vying for SUNYAC Player of the Year accolades as she finished the season hitting .382, while starting 43 games she played, leading the team in at-bats (144), runs (34) and doubles (19), while adding 55 hits, 23 RBI with a slugging percentage of .528 and on-base-percentage of .440. The sophomore also set a single season record for doubles and led the team in stolen bases with 18.
"I think overall confidence and belief in her ability," said Maronski of the biggest difference in year two for Filancia. "As a freshman you can be a little timid at times or afraid to break out and be who you are on the field — but this season there was no holding back from her. She played with fire and energy every game and you could just see her enjoying the game. I think this season she also never settled — she wanted to get better. If there was a bad couple games, she would work hard to work through that and come out strong just like she did this weekend at the NCAA tournament."
Filancia was one of the standouts in the Hawks' run in the NCAA Regional this past weekend in Glassboro, New Jersey. In the three games played, Filancia had three hits, two runs scored with three walks and a stolen base and was named to the NCAA Glassboro Regional All-Tournament team.
Defensively, she was a stud all season. Although she didn't have her best offensive performance of the year during SUNY New Paltz's run in the conference championship tournament, Filancia came up with numerous highlight catches at the hot corner throughout the five games played, totaling three putouts and nine assists. Overall, she finished the season with 96 catches, 46 put outs, 46 assists with only four errors and a fielding percentage of .958.
"Jaycee can play both sides of the game really well," Maronski said. "Defensively — she made some stellar plays for us at third base. Offensively she can hit for power, beat out a ball in the infield, steal bags. All of those things combined just make you a really tough out in the game. I'm very happy for Jay that she was recognized on the All-Region team — it is well deserved, and I am really excited for her future and what she will bring to the team in the next two years."
Roman and Filancia were among 376 student-athletes selected to this year's NFCA All-Region team with 48 student-athletes honored on the first, second or third teams among 10 regions. Among the 48 selected to All-Region III, eight came from the SUNYAC with Cortland leading the way with four selections, including two on first team, followed by two from SUNY Oneonta, which both landed on third team.
To view the official NFCA press release, click here.
