LOUISVILLE, KY – Five members of the University of Rochester softball team earned National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) NCAA Division III All-Region III honors, as announced by the NFCA on Friday.
 
Senior pitcher Molly Broccolo and outfielder Jensen Sminchak, and junior first baseman Riley Laygo received NFCA First-Team All-Region III honors, while senior catcher Rowan Mulholland was named Second-Team All-Region, and senior designated player Marie Kinchington was selected for Third-Team All-Region accolades.
 
URochester was one of 19 schools with five or more All-Region recipients, and tied with SUNY New Paltz for the second-most All-Region honorees in Region III. This also marks the eighth-straight year, not including the COVID-19-shortened 2020 campaign, that the Yellowjackets have had multiple All-Region selections, with Rochester having placed at least three on the All-Region squads each of the past three seasons under Head Coach Abby Hurley-Martin.
 
Broccolo, a First-Team All-Liberty League honoree and the Liberty League Pitcher of the Year, led the 'Jackets in the circle with a 19-5 record, 2.57 ERA and 1.39 WHIP in 30 starts and 36 total appearances. In 136.1 innings pitched coming into day two of the Angola Regional, Broccolo has allowed just 50 earned runs on 147 hits, while walking 42 and striking out a team-high 127, holding opponents to a .260 batting average.
 
Statistically, Broccolo ranks in 10 different categories in Region III, leading the region in games started and appearances while ranking second in wins, fifth in strikeouts and sixth in innings pitched. Broccolo's 19 wins are also tied for the third-most in a single season in program history, while her 26 appearances are the second most, and her 127 strikeouts rank sixth. The senior nets First-Team All-Region III honors for the fourth time in as many years, becoming Rochester's first four-time First-Team All-Region selection.
 
The Liberty League Player of the Year, Laygo has put together one of the best offensive seasons not only in the region and nationally, but also in program history. Now a three-time NFCA All-Region honoree, Laygo is batting .539/.579/1.066 with 82 hits, 21 doubles, four triples, 17 home runs, 66 runs scored and 72 RBI, while going 24-for-26 in stolen base attempts. Laygo has also walked 16 times and struck out just 12 times, while compiling 162 total bases in 44 games played.
 
Ranked in 19 different categories regionally, and 32 nationally, Laygo leads Region III in batting average, doubles, hits, home runs, on-base percentage, RBI, run scored, slugging and total bases, and leads NCAA Division III in slugging and total bases, while ranking second in hits, home runs and runs scored. The junior currently sports the best single-season slash line in program history and has already broken the 'Jackets' single-season records for doubles, hits, home runs, RBI, runs scored and total bases.
 
Sminchak earns her first-career All-Region accolade with a tremendous season at the plate, batting .398 (53-for-133) with seven doubles, five triples, four home runs, 42 runs scored and 43 RBI. Sminchak has also walked as many times as she's struck out (20), has 19 steals in 20 attempts, and has a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in center field, with two assists and a double play.
 
The senior ranks top 10 in Region III in runs scored and RBI, as well as top 20 in hits and stolen bases. Nationally, the Euclid, OH native is 51st in DIII with her five triples, and 73rd in RBI. Sminchak's five triples are also tied for the third-most in a single season in program history, while the senior's 43 RBI rank seventh. Twice this season, Sminchak has hit a grand slam, with her six RBI at Skidmore on April 17 tied for the fourth-most runs driven in a single game in program history.
 
Mulholland has started nearly every game behind the plate for the Yellowjackets this season and nets her first career All-Region accolade. The Yardley, PA native is batting .362 (51-for-141) with a .422 on-base percentage and a .560 slugging, having tallied 10 doubles, six home runs, 30 runs scored and 46 RBI in 44 games played. Behind the dish, Mulholland also has a .984 fielding percentage, with 18 assists and four runners caught stealing.
 
The senior ranks regionally in seven categories, including seventh in RBI, where she also ranks 57th in Division III. Mulholland's 46 runs batted in are also tied for the fourth-most in a single season in program history. Batting in the heart of Rochester's order in nearly every contest, Mulholland has had 12 multi-RBI games, including a career-high six on Senior Day vs. Union on April 26, tied for the fourth-most in a single contest in program history. Mulholland also scored four runs in that contest, which is tied for the fifth-most in a single game.
 
Kinchington also earns her first-career All-Region honor following a breakout senior season that saw the Presto, PA native break out as one of the 'Jackets' top power hitters. In 42 games played and 39 starts, all as URochester's designated player, Kinchington slashed .339/.437/.591 with 39 hits, two doubles, nine home runs, 21 runs scored and 36 RBI, while drawing 19 walks and striking out just 16 times.
 
Kinchington's slugging percentage is currently the 10th-best in a single season in program history, while the senior also ranks fifth in Region III and top 50 in Division III in home runs, and top 20 in Region III in RBI. Kinchington had the longest one-base streak on the team this season, reaching base in 23-straight contests, and also had one of the Yellowjackets' two, two-homer games this season, blasting a pair at St. John Fisher on March 21, tied for the second-most home runs in a single game in program history.
 
NFCA All-Region honors student-athletes from the Association's 10 regions with selection to one of three teams. NFCA member head coaches nominate and then vote for the winners in their respective region. Coaches may nominate a maximum of eight players from their squad.
 
All honorees move forward for consideration for selection to the three NFCA Division III All-America squads, which will be announced May 27.