Michon named National Pitcher of the Year
Jun. 4—WILLIMANTIC — Eastern Connecticut State University sophomore Alexis Michone was named on Friday as the 2022 NCAA Division III National Pitcher- of- the- Year by Schutt Sports and the National Fastpitch Coaches' Association (NFCA).
Michon, a first- year transfer from Plymouth State University, won her final 21 decisions of the season and equaled the third- winningest season by a pitcher in program history. Michon was a first-team NFCA All-America, Little East Conference Pitcher- of- the-Year and Most Outstanding Player of the LEC tournament and Union, NJ Regionals en route to a 24- 1 record and 1.07 ERA.
She fanned 204 batters in 157 M/ innings (9.1 per game), walking only 37 and limiting opponents to a .154 batting average.
Michon's wins equal the third- most in a season in program history and strikeouts are the sixth- most in a season.
Former 4- time All- America Molly Rathbun holds four of the top five season marks for strikeouts and the top three marks for wins, with Michon equaling Rathbun's third-best mark of 24).
Among pitchers with at least ten decisions in a season, Michon's winning percentage of .960 is a season record, just ahead of former All- America Christia Mohan's .957 (22-1), when she led the Warriors to the 1990 national title and until today, was Eastern's only National Pitcher- of- the- Year ( the award that year was designated as national Player- ofthe- Year, since a separate award was not given to pitchers until much later.
Michon finished in a tie for ninth nationally in wins and ranked 11th in WHIP (0.77).
Senior first baseman Kaitlyn Hasty of national champion Christopher Newport University was named National Playerof- the- Year.
The awards are voted on by the elected members of the NFCA Division III All- America Committee with one head coach representing each of the ten NCAA regions. To be eligible, a student- athlete's head coach must be a member of the NFCA.
Michon did not lose a decision over the final 11 weeks of the season.
After winning her first three decisions — two of them starts — at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in early March, Michon was beaten by No. 14 nationally-ranked Piedmont University, 6- 3, in that tournament, despite allowing only two earned runs over the six- inning complete game. The contest was the sixth of the year for Eastern and the 15th of the year for Piedmont, which was competing in its third tournament of the year and went on to 30+ wins and a regional tournament berth.
Michon appeared on the mound in all but one of the team's 13 LEC and NCAA post- season games. She was 7- 0 with a save and a 0.91 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 54 innings with three complete- game shutouts. Opponents hit just .122 against her, with 17 of their 22 hits being singles.
During the five-inning LEC championship win over Massachusetts Dartmouth, Michon spun a complete- game one- hitter; against Kean in the Union, NJ Regional, she gained the win with three innings of one- hit relief; and in a two- game sweep of Randolph- Macon College in the bestof- three Super Regionals, she pitched the first 14 shutout innings, tossing a four-hitter with 11 strikeouts in a 1-0 eight-inning win in outdueling R-MC All- America Gracie Bresson in the first game, and stopped the Yellow Jackets on three hits over the first six innings in
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