ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Empire 8 Athletic Conference released its softball All-Conference teams on Monday afternoon, as three Soaring Eagles garnered postseason honors for their accomplishments during the regular season. Among the three includes Katie Distefano '24, Brianna Ramstine '25, and Jocelyn Jean '27, who each earned Empire 8 honors for the first time in their careers. 

Four different teams had at least one first team selection. St. John Fisher led all institutions with six first team selections, while Alfred had four selections. Utica University had a pair of first team picks, while Keuka College enjoyed one first team selection. Overall, the Cardinals had 11 all-conference selections, while eight Utica student-athletes and seven from Alfred were honored. Alfred standout Mya Wells, Mari Spitz from St. John Fisher and Utica's Emily Joss earned All-E8 first team honors for the third time.

One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2024 Empire 8 Softball Sportswoman of the Year Team. The Empire 8 Conference emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportswomen. For Elmira College, the Sportswoman of the Year nominee was Justice Green '24. 

Distefano earned third team honors after posting a .352 batting average during the 2024 season, good for second behind Ramstine, while her .406 on-base percentage also ranked second amongst qualified Soaring Eagles. Distefano, who will return next season to don the Purple & Gold, already holds a plethora of program records. On the defensive side, Distefano currently holds the career putouts record (815), while her 112 games played ranks 5th in program history. With 16 games next season, Distefano will pass teammate Madison Brown-Bloom '24 and her 127 career games played. In addition, she ranks top-ten in both career runs batted in and walks. 

A transfer from SUNY Broome, Ramstine established herself quickly as one of the top offensive threats for the Soaring Eagles. In her first season, Ramstine led Elmira in batting average (.363), OPS (.950), games started (34), at-bats (102), runs scored (23), hits (37), triples (4), total bases (55), slugging percentage (.539), least amount of strikeouts amongst qualified hitters (11), and stolen bases (15). In addition to her third team accolades from the conference, her four triples ranks 10th in single-season program history, while her 15 stolen bases ranked 6th in a season for a Soaring Eagle. 

Jean rounded out the accolades for Elmira, earning third team as a designated player. A first-year, her .304 batting average ranked third behind Ramstine & Distefano. Additionally, she was one of three players to appear in all 34 contests, while her eight doubles led Elmira during the season. Her 22 runs batted in also ranked T-10th for a single-season in Soaring Eagle program history.

Full Empire 8 Softball All-Conference Teams:
Player of the Year: Maddie Donlin, Jr., OF, St. John Fisher
Pitcher of the Year: Cassidy Ormond, Jr., P, St. John Fisher
Defensive Player of the Year: Mya Wells, 1B, Alfred 
Rookie of the Year: Jennifer Rodriguez, Fr., U, Utica
Coaching Staff of the Year: St. John Fisher, led by head coach Bari Mance

Empire 8 First Team 
Catcher – Mari Spitz, Jr., C, St. John Fisher (Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima)
First Base – Mya Wells, Sr., 1B, Alfred (San Ramon, CA/California)
Second Base – Madi Rose, So., 2B, St. John Fisher (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park)
Shortstop – Amalia DeMartino, Jr., SS, St. John Fisher (Durham, CT/Coginchaug Regional)
Third Base – Abigail Gatza, Sr., 3B, Alfred (Burlington, Ontario/Assumption Catholic)
Outfield – Meghan Neto, Jr., OF, Alfred (Miami, FL/Doral Academy Charter)
Outfield – Maddie Donlin, Jr., OF, St. John Fisher (Vestal, NY/Vestal)
Outfield – Emily McManus, Fr., OF, St. John Fisher (Rochester, NY/Gates-Chili)
Outfield – Emily Joss, Gr., OF, Utica (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls)
Utility – Jennifer Rodriguez, Fr., U, Utica (Sylmar, CA/John F. Kennedy)
Designated Player – Emily VanDelinder, Sr., DP, Keuka (Corning, NY/Corning)
Pitcher – Megan Bennett, Sr., P, Alfred (Athens, PA/Athens Area)
Pitcher – Cassidy Ormond, Jr., P, St. John Fisher (Cicero, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse)

Empire 8 Second Team 
Catcher – Rachel Little, Fr., C, Utica (Burbank, CA/John Burroughs)
First Base – Taylor Shackleton, Fr., 1B, St. John Fisher (Placentia, CA/El Doracdo)
Second Base – Annalise Tyler, Fr., 2B, Russell Sage (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady)
Shortstop – Hailey Jasinski, Fr., SS, Keuka (Buffalo, NY/North Collins)
Third Base – Kelly Cournoyer, Sr., 3B, St. John Fisher (Dudley, MA/Shepherd Hill Regional)
Outfield – Maddy Spakoski, So., OF, Nazareth (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder)
Outfield – Maddie Zulager So., OF, Utica (Moorpark, CA/Moorpark)
Utility – Olivia Flynn, So., U, Keuka (Williamson, NY/Williamson)
Designated Player – Paris Guzman, Fr., DP, Alfred (Santa Fe Springs, CA/Santa Fe)
Pitcher – Leah Madore, So., P, Russell Sage (Williamsville, VT/Brattleboro Union)
Pitcher – Ainsley Evanetski, Jr., P, St. John Fisher (Rochester, NY/Brighton)

Empire 8 Third Team 
Catcher – Morgan Russo, Fr., C, Nazareth (Ilion, NY/Central Valley Academy)
First Base – Katie Distefano, Sr., 1B, Elmira (Wall Township, NJ/Wall)
Second Base – Lauren Paul, Jr., 2B, Utica (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland)
Shortstop – Carlee Miller, Sr., SS, Houghton (Fillmore, NY/Fillmore) 
Shortstop – Frankie Luster, Fr., SS, Utica (Granada Hills, CA/Granada Hills Charter) 
Third Base – Danielle Nelson, So., 3B, Houghton (Smethport, PA/Smethport Area) 
Third Base – Alyssa Barbato, Jr., 3B, Utica (Rhinebeck, NY/Rhinebeck) 
Outfield – Jessica Remm, So., OF, Alfred (Carmel, IN/Carmel) 
Outfield – Samantha Vidal, Fr., OF, Alfred (Flake Worth, FL/Forest Hill)
Outfield – Brianna Ramstine, Jr., OF, Elmira (Chenango Forks, NY/Chenango Forks) 
Outfield – Madalyn Ring, Jr., OF, Russell Sage (Gansevoort, NY/South Glens Falls) 
Outfield – Cassidy Evanetski, Jr., OF, St. John Fisher (Rochester, NY/Brighton)
Utility – CC Holmes, Fr., P/U, St. John Fisher (Utica, NY/New Hartford)
Designated Player – Jocelyn Jean, Fr., DP, Elmira (Montoursville, PA/Montoursville)
Pitcher – Jordyn Conte, Gr., P, Utica (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley)
Pitcher – Kylie Murray, Jr., P, Utica (Eastchester, NY/Eastchester)

Empire 8 Sportswoman of the Year
Mikaela Perez, Sr., P, Alfred (Pomona, CA/Diamond Ranch)
Justice Green, Sr., U, Elmira (Starksboro, VT/Mount Abraham Union)
Jennifer Page, Sr., OF, Houghton (Seneca Falls, NY/Mynderse Academy)
Emily VanDelinder, Sr., DP, Keuka (Corning, NY/Corning)
Morgan Russo, Fr., C, Nazareth (Ilion, NY/Central Valley Academy)
Zoe Moroughan, Fr., P, Russell Sage (Adams, NY/South Jefferson)
Maddie Herdlein, Jr., P, St. John Fisher (Amherst, NY/Amherst)
Kelly Thornton, Jr., U, Utica (Stanhope, NJ/Lenape Valley Regional)

ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit www.empire8.com and YouTube