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MCLA's Rachiele Earns All-Region Honors

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts senior outfielder Austin Rachiele has been selected to the 2023 D3baseball.com Region 2 First Team.
 
Earlier this month the Pittsfield resident and Taconic graduate was voted the 2023 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
 
Rachiele's memorable 2023 season saw him lead the conference in batting (.453), home runs (14), hits (63, tying the MCLA program record), triples (four), total bases (127, also a program record), as well as on base percentage (.550) and slugging percentage (.914). He scored 53 runs, aprogram record, had 40 RBIs and drew 28 walks while stealing 17 bases.
 
UMASS Dartmouth's DJ Perron was voted as the D3baseball.com Region 2 Player of the Year with Salve Regina's Sean Mulligan earning Rookie of the Year and Endicott's Gabe Van Emon taking the Pitcher of the Year honors. Endicott's Bryan Haley was selected as the Coach of the Year.
 
D3baseball.com Region 2 in comprised of 30 Division III institutions from the MASCAC, Little East Conference, Commonwealth Coast Conference, New England Collegiate Conference and the University Athletic Association.
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Community Hero: Noelle Howland

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff

Noelle Howland is committed to keeping alive the late Pittsfield ACO Eleanor Sonsini's mission of helping animals ... albeit farther north in North Adams.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — No Paws Left Behind Executive Director Noelle Howland has been selected as the November Community Hero of the Month. 
 
The Community Hero of the Month series honors individuals and organizations that have made a significant impact in their community. The series sponsor, Haddad Auto, has extended this initiative for one more month.
 
Howland breathed new life into the mission of the former Eleanor Sonsini Animal Shelter, which closed in August 2023. 
 
The shelter in Pittsfield operated under the mission established by Eleanor Sonsini, a local animal rights activist and longtime animal control officer in Pittsfield, to be a no-kill shelter committed to finding surrendered and abandoned pets new forever homes. 
 
Howland's love for animals, dedication to their well-being, and expertise in animal behavior and training and shelter management brought this mission to new heights at No Paws Left Behind, a new shelter for dogs located at 69 Hodges Cross Road. 
 
"I want people to understand that I know it's hard to surrender. So, my biggest thing is [making sure] people know that, of course, we're not judging you. We're here to help you," Howland said. 
 
When Sonsini announced its closing, Howland, who was the shelter's manager, worked to save it, launching fundraising initiatives. However, the previous board decided to close the shelter down and agreed to let Howland open her own shelter using their mission. 
 
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