CRESSON, Pa. -- On Tuesday, the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference announced their annual All-Conference awards for Softball. Three Mounties were named to the All-Conference teams, following their 9-7 regular season and conference finals appearance. Lydia DeFazio and Madison Hillard were selected to the First Team, while Abby Reitz was picked as the Third Team shortstop.

Lydia DeFazio (Harrison City, PA, Penn Trafford) earned her third overall selection to the All-AMCC teams, as she was named to the First Team, at Catcher. It was her second consecutive time on the First Team, after her Player of the Year season in 2019. In 2021, DeFazio led the Mounties with a .392 batting average, while hitting one home run and finishing third on the team, with 18 RBIs. In conference play, she finished in the top ten in triples, home runs, and on-base percentage. DeFazio finishes her career ranked seventh in program history in hits (122), second in batting average (.396), third in home runs with 11, and sixth in RBIs (76). She was selected as the Preseasaon Player of the Year in both 2020 (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic) and 2021.

Madison Hillard (Greenville, PA, Greenville) was picked as a First Team pitcher, for the first time in her career, having had last season canceled. She joins DeFazio on the first team, after an impressive season, finishing second in the AMCC in ERA, with a 2.02. Hillard also finished tied for second in wins, as she held a 9-3 record, on the season. Even in the shortened season, she had the eighth best single-season mark in program history, with eight complete games, while her ERA mark was the seventh best.

Abby Reitz (Greencastle, PA, Greencastle Antrim) earned her second All-AMCC nod, as she was picked to the Third Team, as a shortstop. She was a Second Team selection in 2019. Reitz had an impressive campaign in 2021, as she led the team in home runs, RBIs, and slugging percentage. Her three homeruns and 24 RBIs, also put her in the top five in the AMCC list. In AMCC play, she finished first in slugging percentage, with an emphatic .898 mark. In her Mountie career, Reitz ranks sixth in triples (11) and fifth in stolen bases (16).

Both DeFazio and Reitz were members of the two AMCC Championship teams at Mount Aloysius. In 2019, they helped win the first NCAA tournament game by an AMCC conference school, in the sport of softball.

Mount Aloysius lost in the AMCC Championship series, this past Saturday to Penn State Behrend. They finished with a 15-10-1 overall record.

To read the full AMCC release, click here.