The present certainly was superb for the Worcester Poly Tech softball team, and thanks to a handful of area players, the future could be even brighter.

Sophomores Katie Martin of Bedford and Kaitlyn Hess of Milford played huge roles this spring as WPI finished with a 33-11 mark, taking home its second NEWMAC championship in four years.

Martin pitched 13 innings and earned all three wins in the conference championship tourney run for the Engineers. She earned Most Outstanding Player at the championship tourney. Overall, Martin pitched in 23 games with 17 starts, going 12-3 with a 1.99 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 98.2 innings of work.

Hess was the hero in the tourney win over Wellesley, slapping a pinch-hit walkoff single in the seventh inning of the dramatic win. The Tilton School product played the perfect utility role at WPI this spring, seeing action in 28 games and batting .190.

One player that won’t factor in the Engineers’ future but has been huge in the past and present is first baseman Renee LeClaire of Merrimack. The senior played in all 44 games this year, batting .338 with 20 RBIs.

A four-year starter, LeClaire batted .350 for her career, amassing 146 hits with seven homers and 97 career RBIs.

Also at WPI, freshman catch Stephanie Bishop of Milford saw action in five games, batting .188 with a pair of RBIs.

Simmons standout

Simmons pitcher Hailey Yabroudy of Amherst was named to the All-GNAC Third Team for her 1.95 earned run average against conference opponents (3.62 overall), good for fourth in the league.

She led the league in innings (114) and mound appearances (25).

Keene State star

Souhegan alum Joe Nutting of Amherst, who originally began his college men’s lacrosse career at UMass-Lowell, has found a home at Keene State.

He scored four goals to pace a recent 18-7 win in the Little East Conference semis over Umass-Dartmouth, and had eight goals in a win this year over Souther Maine, the third highest single-game total in KSC history.

The sophomore led the Owls in scoring (45 goals) and his 66 points (21 assists) was second on the team. KSC was ousted in the second round of the Division III NCAA tourney by

Williams.

Rivier rewards

The 2019 spring season is over at Rivier University, but there have been a few postseason awards handed out.

The Raiders placed three on the GNAC Men’s Lacrosse All-Conference team for 2019.

Senior Colby Larsen (65 points, 45 goals-19 assists) was named to the Second Team along with fellow senior Eric Guinasso (51 points, 37 goals, 14

asssists).

Sophomore Dylan McSparren (47 goals, 26 assists for a whopping 73 points) was named to the GNAC Third Team.