NEWARK, Del. — Junior Bre Klaiber of Ironton, OH, and senior Morgan Perry (Bethany, Conn.) of the nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College softball team were named 2021 Division II Conference Commissioner Association (D2CCA) East Region Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, by a vote of the region’s Sports Information Directors.
Joining Klaiber and Perry on the All-East First Team is freshman Gracie O’Hara (Shrewsbury, Mass.) who was selected as the top designed player in the region. Sophomore Kylie Fitzpatrick (Danville, N.H.) and fellow classmate McKenna Smith (Old Town, Maine) earned Second Team honors.
The First Team honorees are automatically nominated for the D2CCA All-America voting process. The D2CCA All-America squads are announced ahead of the NCAA Division II National Championship on Wednesday, May 26.
The group helped Saint Anselm win its second-ever Northeast-10 Conference Championship title last week, downing Adelphi University twice on Friday in the best-of-three series.
The Hawks were also awarded the second seed in the upcoming NCAA Division II East Region Championship, which Saint Anselm will host starting on Wednesday.
Klaiber led the Hawks to a 29-4 overall record in 2021, winning the NE10 Regular Season and Tournament Championship.
The NE10 Northeast Division Player of the Year led the conference with a .444 batting average and a .537 on-base percentage, while ranking fifth in the league with a .689 slugging percentage.
Her 40 hits were third most in the NE10 while she was also fifth in the league with 23 runs batted in.
Klaiber’s on-base percentage ranks 25th in all of NCAA Division II and also sits 41st in the nation with her .444 batting average. She played a key role in the Hawks NE10 postseason title run as she was named to the NE10 All-Tournament Team.