#1 Lesley Heads to Title Match, While #3 Mitchell will Face #2 Elms in Game Seven of Semifinals
2011 NECC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals • Tuesday, May 3
Game 1-#6 Daniel Webster (7-17, 5-11) at #3 Mitchell (13-17,
10-6), MC 11-3
Game 2-#5 Newbury (9-22, 9-7) at #4 Becker (14-20, 10-6),
NC 4-1
Semifinals • Friday, May 6 (Hosted by Lesley at
UMass Boston)
Game 3-#5 Newbury (10-22) at #1 Lesley (26-6, 16-0),
LU 8-0
Game 4-#3 Mitchell (14-17) vs. #2 Elms (20-12, 14-2),
EC 5-0
Game 5-#5 Newbury (10-23) vs. #3 Mitchell (15-17), MC
3-1
Game 6-#2 Elms (21-12) vs. #1 Lesley (27-6), LU
4-1
Semifinals and Championship Game • Saturday, May 7
(Hosted by Lesley at UMass Boston)
Game 7-#3 Mitchell (16-17) vs. #2 Elms (21-13), 10:00
a.m.
Game 8-Winner of Game 6 vs. Winner of Game 7, 12:00 p.m.
Championship Game • Sunday, May 8 (Hosted by Lesley
at UMass Boston)
Game 9 (If Necessary), 1:00 p.m.
GAME THREE: #1 LU 8, #5 NC 0
BOX SCORE: http://athletics.lesley.edu/sports/sball/2010-11/files/lus33.htm
BOSTON, Mass. – No. 1 Lesley University bested No. 5 Newbury
College 8-0 in the New England Collegiate Conference Softball
Tournament Quarterfinals Friday morning at UMass-Boston’s
Clark Athletics Center Field.
Starting pitcher Jennifer Dorval (Franklin,
NH/Franklin) struck out 12 in five innings, allowing only a single
hit and three walks in shutting down the Nighthawks.
Dorval struck out two in the top of the first before Lesley quietly
batted around with seven runs on eight singles and a costly passed
ball. Leading 3-0, Maria Nazzaro’s (North
Reading, MA/St. Mary’s RBI single made it a 5-0 game, and the
freshman right fielder came around to score all the way from second
on a passed ball to make it a 7-0 game after one.
Dorval held the Nighthawks in check all morning, fanning 10 in her
first four innings, but Newbury starter Rebecca
Roach (Charlton, MA/Shepherd Hill) settled down after the
rocky first, keeping the Lynx off the board in the following four
innings.
Nazzaro scored on a Gabrielle Brixey (Coalinga,
CA/West Hills CC) single in the fifth, as the Lynx won, 5-0, in
five.
Brixey enjoyed a perfect 4-for-4 day with a run scored, an RBI and
her league-leading fifth triple. Nazzaro went 2-for-3 with two RBIs
in support of Dorval, who improved to 14-2.
For Newbury, Teressa Hylinski (Strafford,
NH/Strafford) went 1-for-3.
Lesley will take on the winner of today’s noon game between
Mitchell and Elms at 4 p.m., while Newbury takes on the loser at 2
p.m.
GAME FOUR: #2 EC 5, #3 MC 0
BOX SCORE: http://athletics.elms.edu/sports/sball/2010-11/stats/ecs33.htm
BOSTON, Mass. – No. 2 Elms College knocked off No. 3 seed
Mitchell College, 5-0, in New England Collegiate Conference
Softball Tournament play Friday afternoon on the campus of
UMass-Boston.
The Blazers jumped up in the first, when leadoff hitter
Alison McBride (East Providence, RI/East
Providence) singled to left and advanced to third on a two-base
Mitchell throwing error. She scored on a Jenna
Lipscomb (Cambridge, MA/Lawrence) RBI groundout to short,
putting the Blazers on top 1-0 after one.
Elms added two in the third, when Jenna Lipscomb
and Rachel Butt (Agawam, MA/Agawam) knocked
back-to-back RBI singles, giving starter Destinee
Meeker (Bantam, CT/Litchfield) a bit of insurance.
While Meeker wouldn’t need it, the Blazers chipped on two
more in the sixth compliments of a pair of Mariners infield errors.
The Blazers senior earned her 12th win with a walk-free, three-hit,
five-strikeout victory in her fifth shutout of the year.
Lipscomb led the Blazers with a 2-for-3 day at the plate, scoring
once and driving in two.
For the Mariners, Brittany Zaccaria (White Plains,
NY/Maria Regina) went 2-for-3.
Mitchell will now take on Newbury in an elimination game at 2:00
p.m. The Blazers play top-seed Elms at 4 p.m. with a trip to the
championship on the line.
GAME FIVE: #3 MC 3, #5 NC 1
BOX SCORE:http://www.mitchellathletics.com/sports/sball/2010-11/files/mcs31.htm
BOSTON, Mass. – No. 3 Mitchell College scored three in the
sixth come from behind over No. 5 Newbury, 3-1, Friday afternoon in
New England Collegiate Conference Softball Tournament play.
Newbury got on the board in the fourth, when Brittany
Stracher (Dudley, MA/Shepherd Hill) tripled to the wall in
center and was singled in by Joanna Robie
(Andover, MA/Andover).
Nighthawks starter Rebecca Roach (Charlton,
MA/Shepherd Hill) worked out of trouble early on, escaping two-on,
one-out pickles in the first two innings. Robie’s single put
the Nighthawks on top in the fourth, which held until the sixth,
when Roach entered a jam she could not escape.
Jen Bordonaro (Winsted, CT/Gilbert) reached on a
two-base throwing error to lead off the inning, and with two outs,
Stacey Suplicki (New London, CT/Saint Bernard)
singled home Bordonaro to tie the game at 1-1. Tiffany
Person’s (Waterbury, CT/Crosby) RBI double to the
left-center field gap scored Suplicki, and Person came around on a
Meghan Burke (Bronx, NY/Preston) base hit to cap
the three-run rally.
Newbury put two runners on in the top of the sixth but failed to
get either across, as Mariners starter Marissa
Thomas (New London, CT/Saint Bernard) earned her 12th win
of the season, striking out four and giving up only three hits.
Nikki Hoxie (Winsted, CT/Gilbert) went 2-for-3 for
Mitchell, which will now take on the loser of the 4 p.m. game
between No. 2 Elms and No. 1 Lesley.
For Newbury, which ends its season at 10-24, Stracher went 1-for-3
with a run scored, while Robie went 1-for-3 with an
RBI.
GAME SIX: #1 LU 4, #2 EC 1
BOX SCORE: http://athletics.lesley.edu/sports/sball/2010-11/files/lus34.htm
BOSTON – No. 1 Lesley University advanced to the New England Collegiate Conference Championship with a 4-1 win over No. 2 Elms College Friday afternoon in NECC Tournament play.
Jennifer Dorval (Franklin, NH/Franklin) picked up her second win of the day, coming on in relief of Cassandra Knox (Sea Cliff, NY/North Shore) for four shutout innings, striking out seven in improving her record to 15-2.
Knox escaped trouble twice in the early going. With the bases loaded and two outs in the second, she froze designated player Destinee Meeker(Bantam, CT/Litchfield) looking to escape the jam. An inning later, Alison McBride (East Providence, RI/East Providence) singled and advanced on an illegal pitch and a sac bunt, but was caught trying to score on a suicide squeeze on a flip from first base Ashley Cunningham (Mountain Top, PA/Crestwood) to catcher Molly Sarson (Sanford, ME/Sanford). Rachel Butt, who reached on the bunt, was then thrown out by Sarson trying to steal second, squashing Elms’ potential rally.
After keeping the game tied on a defensive play at the plate, Sarson stepped up to the dish and gave the Lynx the lead. Her two-out double to the wall in left plated Jenna Fralick (Woburn, MA/Woburn), and Alyson Durben (Stow, MA/Nashoba) then scored Sarson with a single to center. After Dorval singled, freshman Nicole Mercurio (Wakefield, MA/Wakefield) doubled home Durben and Dorval to double the Lesley lead to 4-0 after three.
Elms bounced right back, as a walk, single and a Knox illegal pitch landed the Blazers with runners at second and third with no outs in the fourth. Sarah Buckley (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug) scored on a Knox wild pitch, which would be her final pitch, as she then gave way to Dorval in relief.
The freshman promptly extinguished the Elms’ budding rally, striking out the first three batters she faced to strand a runner at third base and prevent any further damage. Just hours after a 12-strikeout, five-inning complete game shutout of Newbury earlier in the day, Dorval worked the final four innings, striking out seven and allowing only one hit in the 4-1 win.
Offensively, Sarson went 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run for the Lynx, Mercurio went 1-for-3 with 2 RBIs and Fralick went 1-for-3 with a run.
McBride paced the Blazers from the leadoff spot, going 2-for-4. Starter Courtney Hampton (Westfield, MA/Westfield) allowed four earned runs over her six innings, striking out two.
The Lynx won their 18th straight game in improving to 28-6. Elms, now 21-13, will face Mitchell tomorrow morning at 10:00 for the chance to play Lesley in Saturday’s noon title game.
The team that advances from the 10:00 game will have to beat Lesley twice in order to win the tournament, while Lesley is one win away from its fourth straight conference championship.
Courtesy of Lesley Sports Information
LINKS
Game Two Program
2011 NECC Softball Championship Program
2011 NECC Softball Championship Handbook
(Directions)
