ANNVILLE, Pa. – After earning a share of first place in the Freedom Conference regular season and the top seed in this week's Freedom Conference Championship, the Manhattanville softball team was rewarded with four players earning All-Freedom Conference honors, the conference office announced on Monday afternoon.
 
Junior Katie Pitcher (Cold Spring, N.Y./Valley Central) led the way with first-team All-Conference honors at designated player as well as second-team honors as a utility player. In addition, senior Ashley Dell (Huntington Station, N.Y./Huntington) and juniors Alyssa Taylor (Craik, Sask./Craik) and Jessica Van Galen (Bedford Hills, N.Y./Fox Lane) were honored with spots on the All-Freedom second team as well.
 
The four All-Conference nominations are the most for Manhattanville since joining the Freedom Conference and the most since nine players earned All-Skyline Conference honors in 2007.
 
Pitcher had a big impact on the Manhattanville lineup in her first season with the Valiants, ranking second on the team with a .372 batting average and 23 runs batted in while adding a team-leading nine doubles. She also hit four home runs and scored 19 runs on the season at the plate, serving as one of the most consistent players in the Valiant lineup. In addition, she also lived up to her surname in the circle, posting a 6-2 record with a 4.58 earned run average in 59.2 innings of work.
 
Dell is in the midst of a career year at the plate for Manhattanville, earning her second All-Conference honor after setting new career highs in almost every category this year. The senior catcher currently ranks third in the Freedom Conference with a .424 batting average, including eight doubles, two triples and three home runs. She also leads the team with 20 runs scored and has driven in a career-high 21 as well as a senior captain.
 
For her career, Dell is a .299 career hitter with eight homers, 45 runs scored and 57 runs batted in. She currently sits ninth in career home runs at Manhattanville.
 
Van Galen has had another solid season for Manhattanville as one of the most dangerous power hitters in the Freedom Conference. The junior first baseman is batting .340 entering the week while also leading the Freedom Conference with nine home runs, a total that ties her for third on the school's single-season list. She also ranks fourth in the conference with a team-best 32 RBI and places fifth among Freedom players with her .670 slugging percentage, helped by a team-leading 15 extra-base hits.
 
Just a junior, Van Galen already has her name scattered throughout the Valiant record books, as she currently sits second in career home runs (24), sixth in slugging percentage (.609), seventh in total bases (196) and eighth in career RBI (85) with a full year still to go.
 
After a year away from the team, Taylor has come back strong in 2012 and established herself as one of the conference's top pitchers. She ranks fifth in the Freedom Conference with her 2.69 ERA and also is tied for fifth in the conference in wins with her 6-6 record in a team-leading 20 appearances. Taylor also has provided some clout at the plate as well, hitting .299 with three homers, seven RBI and 11 runs scored.
 
She currently sits ninth in program history with 14 wins in the circle, while also placing sixth in shutouts (three), ninth in total appearances (39) and strikeouts (118), and 10th in innings pitched (170.1).
 
Manhattanville (17-14, 10-4 Freedom) will have one final tune-up before the Freedom Conference Championships this weekend, as the Valiants host Baruch for a pair of non-conference games at Manhattanville Field on Tuesday beginning at 3 p.m. 

Complete All-Conference Release