BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College continues its look back at the 2014-15 athletic campaign with Top 10 Stories from the past year including the No. 3 story – senior first baseman Jenn Dalcikas earning a spot on the 2015 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III All-America First Team.
This spring, Dalickas helped the Greyhounds to a 38-8 overall record as the team captured the Landmark Conference Championship, the NCAA Division III Rochester (N.Y.) Regional Championship and a trip to the NCAA Division III Super Regional in Greencastle, Indiana as the Hounds fell a win shy of a trip to the NCAA Division III Championship Series. Moravian was also ranked No. 14 in the final NFCA Division III Top 25 poll of the season.
Dalickas also helped the Hounds to a 132-39 record during her career as she was on the squad for two milestones by Head Coach John Byrne, who won his 600th career game during her freshman year in 2012 and picked up his 700th career victory on April 25 of this season in the midst of the Greyhounds' 16-game winning streak.
"It was truly one of the most incredible experiences of my college career to be a First Team All-American," commented Dalickas. "There is no real way to tell you how awesome it felt knowing I'd accomplished something so incredible. After we lost to DePauw in Indiana, we huddled up in right field to talk about the game and the season. Coach Byrne was talking about everything, and he said something like "one of us is still going to Virginia." I was so emotional already; I just started crying. Even though the loss was a bitter reality our season was over, and for us seniors, our last one we would get to play in that uniform, to have made First Team All-American was truly a blessing and such an honor. I'm very thankful for my teammates and coaches. Without them, senior year would not have been the same. Making it to Super Regionals with the family we had formed and making First Team was the best way to go out. I couldn't have asked for a more special season to end my career."
Dalickas received All-American accolades for the second straight spring after being on the Second Team in 2014, and she joined Heather Bortz '05 and Meagan Hennessy '06 as the only players in school history to be named multiple All-Americans. The trio is also the only three of Moravian's five players to earn NFCA All-American honors that have made the First Team.
Dalickas had a hard time describing what it meant to be a multiple All-American.
"There are no words I can come up with to be amongst the best softball players to ever go through our program," Dalickas said. "It's quite an honor to join Heather Bortz and Meagan Hennessy in such a group. As a younger player, I had heard stories about those two being apart of Moravian softball, and they really were amazing athletes. Being part of something like this is something I could not and never will forget."
Dalickas earned NFCA/Louisville Slugger First Team All-Region honors for the fourth consecutive season last week but the first time in the Atlantic Region in 2015 as Moravian was switched from the East to the Atlantic this spring. She was also selected as the Landmark Conference and ECAC Division III South Player of the Year for a second consecutive season.
Dalickas, who also earned Landmark All-Conference First Team for a fourth straight spring, led Moravian with a .465 batting average to go along with 53 hits, 44 runs, 14 doubles, nine home runs, 34 RBIs, 94 total bases, an .825 slugging percentage, a school record 52 walks and a school record .642 on-base percentage, which also led all of NCAA Division III. Dalickas played first base for the second straight spring after being an outfielder as a freshman and a designated player as a sophomore, and she contributed 265 putouts and 11 assists in the field.
In early April, Dalickas had a stretch of 25 straight plate appearances that saw her reach first base, going nine-for-nine with 16 walks. Coach Byrne moved her up to the leadoff position in the line-up when teams started to walk her, and Dalickas continued to get on base and drive in runs.
"Jenn will certainly go down as one of the best players we have had here at Moravian College," noted Byrne. "She was a pleasure to coach and I am very proud of her accomplishments both on the field and in the classroom. She had a bit of a frustrating year with team's pitching around her but she worked through it and helped us have a successful season. Jenn's numbers were incredible in that she hit for power, took the ball the opposite way when needed and always seemed to find a way on base to get us going."
In her career, Dalickas tied or set 14 school records including career marks for home runs (35), total bases (373), slugging percentage (.804), walks (89), on-base percentage (.535) and doubles (53 – tied with Janelle Brey '04).
"I'll remember the girls and the games the most from my senior year," explained Dalickas. "Out of all the records I've broken or accolades I've received, the greatest gift my senior year was my team. We were family, and I will always remember how great we were and how I wish I had more games to play with them. One of my favorites of the season was our Landmark Conference Championship game. It was a relatively close game, and then in the 4th inning three back-to-back two-run home runs by three of our underclassmen. We went wild in the dugout, and I will never forget how fun it was to win back the Championship. Regionals and Super Regionals are definitely games for the books as well. Dior George, Lizzie Mack, and I soaked up every moment we could. We lost some and won a lot, but most importantly we had fun and made friendships that will last a lifetime."
Dalickas had one last message to share.
"To everyone who supported me along the way, who pushed me and reminded me I could accomplish anything, thank you. And to all current and future Moravian softball players – "Tradition Never Graduates." Keep the family going, and have the time of your lives. It was the best four years of my life. Make it yours too. Remember that it's the memories, the experience, and the people you cherish that matter the most. Remember to work hard and push yourself to new limits. Strive for excellence. Moravian Softball is so much more than what you strive to accomplish individually; it's playing for the girls along side of you and for those eight letters across your chest. Go win that National Title," she finished.
Dalickas will be returning to a dugout next season but not as a player. She will be a graduate assistant coach at Wilkes University starting this fall, joining the staff of former Greyhound Associate Head Coach Sarah Maulorico, who was named the Colonels' head coach at the end of July.
Number two on our Top 10 Stories will be announced on Friday, August 14.
