Rachel Sapirstein Earns First-Team All-Region Honors for CMS Softball, Giselle Lai on Third Team

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Sophomore infielder Rachel Sapirstein captured National Fastpitch Coaches Association first-team All-Region X honors for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps softball team, while first-year center fielder Giselle Lai earned third-team distinction, the organization announced today.

Sapirstein earned the honor at third base, where she was a regular starter for the Athenas and finished the season with a .453 batting average and 25 runs batted in. She was 6-for-10 in the La Verne series, including a 3-for-3 game, and also batted 3-for-3 in a win over nationally ranked Central (Iowa). Defensively, she had only six errors at third all year, good for a .950 fielding percentage. 

Lai batted .410 in her rookie season, and led CMS in both slugging (.632) and on-base percentage (.410). She had a team-high 15 extra-base hits, including six doubles, seven triples, an inside-the-park homer and an over-the-fence homer, giving her a team-best 28 RBI on the year. She had 13 multi-hit games, including five in a row which included all three games of the Pomona-Pitzer series. 

CMS finished the year with a 24-14 record, tying for the regular season SCIAC title for the second year in a row (with Chapman and Redlands). 

Sapirstein and Lai move forward to be considered for selection for the three NFCA Division III All-America squads, which will be announced May 29 online and on-site at the NCAA Division III Finals banquet in Marshall, Texas.

To view the complete list of NFCA All-Region winners, go to the following link:

NFCA Division III All-Region Teams