Taylor DuPree and Taylor Belfiore Headline Cougar All-CAA Selections
5/9/2017 6:24:00 PM | Softball
Richmond, Va. – College of Charleston junior third baseman Taylor DuPree and freshman catcher Taylor Belfiore were named to the Colonial Athletic Association first team to highlight a total of seven Cougars honored on Tuesday.
Junior outfielders Jordin Jones and Sara Garcia along with sophomore shortstop Kelly Sinclair were voted to the second team. Belfiore was joined by freshman pitcher Izzy Berouty on the all-rookie squad, while sophomore outfielder Izzy McCluskey was named to the all-academic team.
DuPree is on the all-conference team for the third time in as many seasons at CofC and it's her second time on the first team. She leads the CAA and ranks 23rd nationally in hits (69) and is also atop the league in runs scored (44), ranks second in stolen bases (21) and is fourth in batting average (.383) and on-base percentage (.442).
She is the first player in school history with three seasons of 20 or more steals, and her career total of 74 is the fourth highest in the CAA record book. In 156 career games – all starts – DuPree has 193 hits, 124 runs scored and a batting average of .376, which is currently the best ever at CofC.
Belfiore, a local product from Summerville High School, is second on the Cougars with a batting average of .348 and slugging percentage of .563 and is tied for second with eight doubles, seven home runs and 26 RBI. She was twice named the CAA Rookie of the Week, including the first week of the season when she opened her career going 13-for-20 with eight RBI over her first six college games.
Jones tops the Cougars with eight home runs and 38 RBI to go along with a batting average of .309 and a slugging percentage of .515. She has 11 games with at least two RBI including a walk-off two-run homer in the 11th inning against Elon on March 25. Jones also led the Cougars with seven homers last year and has 16 in her career. She has not committed an error in 155 outfield chances over the past two seasons.
Garcia is batting .288 with a team-leading 12 doubles, tied for the fifth most in the CAA. Her season was highlighted on April 1 when she had four hits, including two home runs, and six RBI in a doubleheader split with No. 11 James Madison, handing the Dukes one of only two losses in the conference. Formerly a catcher, Garcia has not committed an error in 48 chances in right field this season.
Sinclair batted .362 with 14 of her 19 RBI in CAA action, finishing the regular season at .290 overall while ranking second on the team with 11 stolen bases. She is 30-for-83 (.361) over the past 25 games with 10 multiple-hit efforts, including a 7-for-9 performance with five RBI in a doubleheader against Drexel. An outstanding defensive shortstop, Sinclair has committed only one error in 86 chances in conference play.
Berouty has 12 wins while leading the CAA with four saves (tied for 18th nationally) and ranking fourth in appearances with 32 and ERA at 2.42. A three-time CAA Rookie of the Week, she had eight wins and a save as part of a CofC run of 11 victories in 13 games that helped clinch a conference tournament berth. Berouty won twice and had a save in a key late-season sweep of Hofstra and began her career by not allowing a run in her first 16.2 innings in the circle.
McCluskey had a team-high 3.64 grade point average through the end of the Fall 2016 semester in the demanding major of biology. She has been on the Dean's List in two of her four semesters at CofC and aspires to go to medical school. On the field, she has played in 33 games with seven starts and has driven in five runs.
