ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Apr. 26, 2016) – The East Coast Conference Softball Tournament enters another exciting chapter on Thursday (Apr. 28) with four teams vying for the crown, trophy and bragging rights after a wild season that saw a first-time regular-season conference champion in top-seed NYIT. Joining the Bears in Old Westbury on Thursday will be two mainstays in the conference championships (LIU Post and Molloy) and one team returning to the postseason for the first time in eight seasons (Bridgeport). Only one of those squads will leave Northern Boulevard with the title, but the storylines for each team are numerous and will all be on display beginning Thursday afternoon.
The Tournament Schedule - Thursday
No. 3 Molloy 5, No. 2 LIU Post 4 - Nine Innings
Milan Botte (Reston, Va.) hit a tiebreaking home run in the top of the ninth inning just one frame after
Kaitlyn Snyder (Smithtown, N.Y.) made a diving catch to keep the winning run from coming home as Molloy got revenge from last year's East Coast Conference Tournament by knocking off the Pioneers in a classic.
No. 1 NYIT 10, No. 4 Bridgeport 7
Five home runs by the Bears---including two from leadoff batter Amber Butenhoff (Port Jervis, N.Y.)---offset a scoreless tie through four-and-a-half innings and gave the tournament hosts a win to advance to Friday's winner's bracket.
The Tournament Schedule - Friday
No. 3 Molloy 8, No. 1 NYIT 5
Molloy scored eight runs in the first three innings off of seasonlong nemesis Carly Wade (Placentia, Calif.) as Botte and Snyder both had three hits to lead Molloy into the East Coast Conference Championship contest on Saturday (Apr. 30). The Lions survived a rally from the top-seeded Bears in the final frames to win by three runs.
No. 2 LIU Post 3, No. 4 Bridgeport 2
The Pioneers squeaked across a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to eliminate Bridgeport and set up a showdown with NYIT in the final game of the day.
No. 2 LIU Post 3, No. 1 NYIT 2
LIU Post won its second straight game of the ECC Tournament to advance to Saturday's ECC Championship series.
The Schedule - Saturday
No.3 Molloy vs. No. 2 LIU Post - 12 p.m.
Records Against Other Playoff Teams
No. 2 LIU Post – 4-1 vs. Molloy
No. 3 Molloy – 1-4 vs. LIU Post
Breaking Down The Teams
Molloy
Third-seeded Molloy picked up a 30-win season for the sixth time in seven spring campaigns by finishing with a 30-22 record and a 19-9 mark in ECC competition. The Lions are making their eighth straight appearance in the East Coast Conference Tournament thanks to a plus-60 margin in runs batted in (209-149) and a resurgent effort from junior pitcher
Chelsea Hawks (Wading River, N.Y.) over the course of the season. Hawks---who posted an 11-11 record in 2015---went 16-10 this season with a 2.98 earned-run average and twirled 16 complete games while totaling 154 strikeouts in 157 innings pitched. Freshman starter
Jenna Turato (Garden City South, N.Y.) posted a solid debut season for the maroon and white in the pitcher's circle, as well. Turato went 6-4 with a 3.98 ERA in 74.2 innings pitched. The pitching staff did an effective job in holding opposing hitters at bay to the tune of a .260 batting average against and a team ERA of 3.91.
Offensively, senior
Tracey Balinskas (Edison, N.J.) has been a major catalyst at the top of the batting card for the Lions all season long. In her swan song season with the maroon and white, Balinskas completed the regular season campaign with a .408 batting average, 16 doubles, eight home runs and 37 runs batted in. Coupled with a .669 slugging percentage and a .468 on-base percentage, the senior proved that her selection as 2016 ECC Preseason Player of the Year was no fluke in contributing another solid year at the dish. Botte, meanwhile, did not appear to miss a step in her return to the Lions this spring. The left-handed power hitter accumulated a .385 batting average with five home runs and 30 RBIs to go along with 11 doubles and a .561 slugging percentage, as well. The biggest and most pleasant surprise, however, came from sophomore shortstop
Brianna Dalton (Northampton, Pa.). Dalton owned a 17-game hitting streak through the early portion of conference season and ended her regular season with a .352 batting average, 13 doubles, four home runs and a team-high 40 runs batted in (the first Molloy shortstop with 40 or more RBIs in a single season since Nicolette Sinagra had 41 back in 2012).
What has plagued the maroon and white this season has been close contests. Molloy has played in 19 games this season that have been decided by two runs or less, and the Lions have gone 8-11 in games of that nature (the team was 6-11 before winning two one-run games versus Saint Thomas Aquinas on Apr. 24). The offense cannot go quiet for the maroon and white if the Lions want to win the ECC Championship for the first time since 2013: the teams they are facing (or could face) represent the best offenses, best pitching staffs and best teams in terms of winning those one-run or two-run games this season.
LIU Post
Fans of the National Hockey League will understand the reference immediately: the LIU Post softball team is to the East Coast Conference what the Detroit Red Wings are to the NHL. Despite being bounced early in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs, Detroit has been a part of the NHL's postseason race for the last 25 seasons. LIU Post, meanwhile, has been a postseason participant now for 23 consecutive spring campaigns. The Pioneers have been a model of consistency for Head Coach Jamie Apicella---who won his 700
th career game this season---and will enter the tournament with a 34-11-1 overall record and a 23-5 mark in East Coast Conference play. The tale of the green and gold for the 2016 season is a story that has been built on the strength of two right arms: one a known and feared pitcher from the south shore of Long Island and the other a newcomer from just outside of the capital city of the Garden State.
Junior Ashley Martin (Long Beach, N.Y.) announced her arrival two seasons ago by winning 16 straight starts to begin her collegiate career with an unblemished 16-0 record. After winning 18 games last season, Martin finished the regular season campaign in her third year in Brookville with a 14-7 record and a 1.65 ERA (lowest among conference pitchers). Her 130 strikeouts in 156.2 innings pitched are no fluke as Martin throws with considerable velocity and precision at hitting the correct spots in the strike zone. Meanwhile, freshman Hannah Olshevski (Robbinsville, N.J.) may have made a bigger statement upon her debut for the Pioneers in the pitcher's circle. Olshevski concluded her first regular season with the green and gold by winning a conference-best 20 games and posting a 20-4 overall record with a 1.81 earned-run average. The freshman's strikeout numbers are not as impressive (49 strikeouts in 162.2 innings pitched) but consider this: Olshevski tossed a complete-game one-hitter versus Saint Thomas Aquinas back on Mar. 26
and did not need to strike anyone out to win. The freshman induced eight outs via fly ball and 13 on ground balls to complete the victory.
The biggest difference for LIU Post this season has come from the offense as the Pioneers---once known for slugging 85 home runs in the 2014 season---have only hit 25 this season. Nine of those long-balls have come from freshman catcher Julia Seader (Piscataway, N.J.), whose left-handed swing has produced a .401 average this season to go along with 36 runs driven in. Senior designated player Paige Swantek (Smithtown, N.Y.) has put together a nice season as well with a .310 average, 10 doubles and 33 runs batted in. The Pioneers have also been buoyed on offense by freshman shortstop Leah Mele (Coram, N.Y.). The four-foot-eleven product of Longwood High School has 16 runs batted in and a .323 batting average while also playing solidly in the field for LIU Post.
Conclusion
All that is left for the four teams in the East Coast Conference Tournament is to play the games and determine the outcomes. The road to Denver and the NCAA Division II College World Series runs through Old Westbury, with every game available for view either by live stats or by broadcast on the East Coast Conference's website. Thursday afternoon seems so far away now, but for the players on NYIT, LIU Post, Molloy and Bridgeport, the anticipation is higher now more than ever and the first pitch cannot come soon enough for the players eager to make history and etch their names into the annals of ECC softball lore.
