LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Junior Kenzie Bessette (Cranston, R.I.) collected additional postseason honors as the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced its 2025 Division III All-Region teams on Friday afternoon.
 
Bessette earned Second Team All-Region II honors as an outfielder, capping another outstanding season. In early April, she was also named a candidate for the Division III Player of the Year, recognized as one of the top offensive players not only in the Little East Conference (LEC), but all of Division III softball.
 
Bessette posted a stellar .485/.536/.618 slash line with 10 doubles, four triples, 42 runs scored, 23 RBIs, and 16 walks. She also set a new program record with 38 stolen bases, while being caught just four times.
 
She ranked in the nation's top 50 in hits, steals, steals per game, batting average, and on-base percentage. Bessette opened the year on a tear, hitting .596 (28-for-47) during the team's 13-game Spring Break trip to Florida.
 
She started all 43 games she appeared in, recording 23 multi-hit games, including six three-hit performances and the team's only four-hit game of the season – a win over Chicago in the third game of the year. In that contest, she went 4-for-5 with two doubles, three runs scored, three RBIs, and a stolen base, while starting the season with an 18-game hitting streak.
 
Bessette drove in a career-best four runs as part of a 2-for-3 performance with two doubles, a walk, and a run scored in game two of a sweep over Curry College in early April. Remarkably, she was still batting just under .500 (.495) as late as April 27. This marks the second consecutive season she has earned Second Team All-Region honors.
 
Under head coach Mike Bernier, the Panthers finished the season with a 28-16 record (9-7 LEC) and advanced through the winner's bracket of LEC Tournament to compete for the league title for just the third time in program history. Picked eighth in the LEC Preseason Coaches' Poll, the Panthers tallied the second-most wins in a single season in program history – just two shy of the program record – representing a remarkable 12-win improvement from last spring.