Bridgewater, N.J. – The Northeast Conference office has announced that three members of the Le Moyne College softball team have earned end-of-year honors, as voted upon by the league's eight head coaches on Wednesday afternoon.
Senior second baseman Dominique Rinaldi (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) and freshman third baseman Cianna Benamati (Ballston Lake, N.Y./Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) were named to the all-conference first team while Benamati and freshman pitcher Nevaeh Ross (Friendship, N.Y./Friendship) were voted on as all-rookie team members.
Rinaldi is earning all-conference honors for the first time in her career after setting career-best marks in batting average (.265), on-base rate (.368), runs scored (26), walks (14), strikeouts (13), sacrifice flies (four), and stolen bases (eight) while starting in 43 of 44 team games this season. Her stats shot up during NEC play as well this year, as she ranked first on the Dolphins with a .467 on-base percentage and second with a .395 batting average while leading the conference with four sac hits in 17 games played. Rinaldi was named an NEC Prime Performer on Tuesday, Apr. 29 as she went 8-10 at the plate with a 1.669 OPS in five games for Le Moyne. She added one double, two walks, one sac fly, two stolen bases, four RBI, and five runs scored through a doubleheader against Colgate on Wednesday, Apr. 23 and a three-game series victory over Mercyhurst on Sunday and Monday, Apr. 27-28.
Benamati was named both all-conference and all-rookie after leading Le Moyne's offense, becoming the first Dolphins' freshman since Liz Weber in 2011 to be voted first team all-conference. She topped the roster with a .342 batting average, .432 on-base rate, .623 slugging percentage, 1.055 OPS, eight home runs, 71 total bases and 27 RBI while ranking second with 39 hits, eight doubles, 18 walks, and 23 runs scored through 43 games played. Benamati rounded out the year with a top-ten finish in the NEC in slugging percentage (.717), OPS (1.175), hits (21), doubles (five), home runs (four), total bases (38), and RBI (17) after anchoring the middle of the order through all 18 conference games this season. She was twice named an NEC Prime Performer along with being named the conference's Rookie of the Week on Wednesday, Apr. 15 after going 6-11 at the plate and slashing .545/.545/.1.455 with a 2.000 OPS, three home runs (including one grand slam), one double, 16 total bases, nine RBI, and four runs scored in three games against LIU on Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 12-13.
Ross earns all-rookie honors after leading the 'Phin's pitching staff in 2025. She went 10-14 on the year while posting team-bests of all qualified pitchers with a 5.17 ERA, 1.75 WHIP, and 78 strikeouts through 20 starts and another 13 relief appearances. Ross' eight complete games, two shutout victories, and one save all led the squad as well through 127.1 of the team's total 269.2 innings pitched this season. Her level of work increased even more for the team in conference play as she tossed more than half (55.0) of the team's total innings through nine starts and five relief spots in NEC action, en route to leading the conference in wins with six. Ross earned Le Moyne's first NEC Rookie of the Week nod in program history on Wednesday, Mar. 11 before reclaiming the honor while also being named Pitcher of the Week on Wednesday, Apr. 22. On Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 18-19, Ross earned the win in a pair of team victories over FDU, totaling one run on nine hits and three walks while striking out five in a pair of seven-inning complete games. Her win in the rubber match came in a 1-0 shutout in which she allowed just four hits on two walks with one strikeout to clinch the team's first conference series victory of the season.
The Dolphins wrapped up the season with a 16-28 record while going 7-11 in Northeast Conference play.
