Tufts University softball has had a solid program for years, and Wolcott native Cassie Ruscz is just the latest in a line of good players.
 |
| Tufts University athletics |
For the second straight year, the Taft graduate was chosen as the NESCAC Co-Player of the Year. She also made the league’s first team for the third straight year. Ruscz is a junior designated player/first baseman for the Jumbos.
Tufts has won 12 of 16 NESCAC Player of the Year awards since 2001, but Ruscz is the first two-time winner in program history, according to the Tufts softball website.
Here are the numbers Ruscz recorded in the regular season: .398 batting average; 16 HR; 55 RBI; .874 slugging percentage; 28 runs scored.
Ruscz was the NESCAC leader in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage. Her batting average was good for 10th and her runs scored total ranked seventh.
Despite losing in the conference tournament, Tufts earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Softball Championship.
In Tuft’s first game of the NCAA Regional today at home, Ruscz drove in both runs in a 2-0 win over Becker College. Ruscz had a RBI single in the first inning, then added her 17th homer of the season in the fifth. Tufts plays again tomorrow against WPI in the four-team regional.
The scary fact for Tuft’s opponents is Ruscz has one more season left with the Jumbos. But first, Ruscz will try to help her team get deep in the NCAA Division III Softball Championship.
