STANDISH, ME - Sixth-seeded Plymouth State (23-17) defeated #3 Saint Joseph's (29-14), 2-1, in the first, and single elimination, round of ECAC Championship Tournament play on Wednesday afternoon at Ward Park. Lady Monks starter Kiera Walsh '11 (Benton, ME) allowed six hits and two earned runs with five strikeouts in the loss and closes her season with an 11-5 record. Ashley Geel '12 (St. George, ME) knocked home the lone SJC run with a double in the fourth inning.
Plymouth State starter Courtney MacFarland '09 (Hampstead, NH) improved to 13-8 on the year after allowing one earned run on three hits and two walks with seven punch outs. Sammi Romano '10 (Kingston, NH) was 2-2 with an RBI double and Melissa Caiazzo '11 (Portland, ME/Deering) went 2-3 with a run scored for the Panthers. With the victory, Plymouth State advances to the double-elimination round of the ECAC Championship Tournament and will play #2 Keene State College (27-14), who defeated #7 Salve Regina, 7-3, in an opening round game at Keene, NH on Wednesday.
The Panthers put up a run with two out in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. Laura Kaplan '11 (Franklin, NH) sent a Walsh offering over the head of SJC left fielder Christy Wezowicz '11 (Granville, MA) and scored when the next batter, Amy Green '12 (Atkinson, NH), singled to left.
The Lady Monks knotted the game at one apiece in the fourth when Geel sent Samantha Gray '12 (Yarmouth, ME), who reached via fielder's choice, scrambling home with a line-drive double to center.
Unfortunately for St. Joe's, MacFarland settled in and did not allow a base runner for the final three innings. Romano's RBI two-bagger in the sixth, which plated Caiazzo, proved to be the game-winning hit.
The 29-win total is the second most for Head Coach Jamie Smyth '92 , who has served as the Lady Monks' clipboard carrier for 12 seasons. Only the 1997 club, which went 30-7 and captured the MAC Championship in Smyth's first season, surpasses the 2009 team's win total. Coach Smyth is the softball program's winningest skipper with a career record of 254-216 (.540).
Emily Leverone '11 (Hampton, NH), who went hitless for just the fifth time this spring, capped her rookie campaign with some of the most gaudy offensive numbers in program history. In fact, the 2009 GNAC All-Conference First Team selection has, simply stated, re-written the St. Joe's softball record book. She now holds the single-season records in batting average (.547), hits (75), doubles (17) home runs (8) and slugging percentage (.920), and is tied the program record for on-base percentage (.577).
With the loss, the Lady Monks say goodbye to a pair of senior outfielders: Alysn Ludwig (Waldoboro, ME) and Liz Jordan (Sandwich, MA). Ludwig , a First-Team All-Conference player in 2008, leaves the program as the career leader in stolen bases and, with 139 runs scored in her four years, is tied with Cindy Kamszik '96 for the career record. Jordan , an All-GNAC First Teamer this season, hit .335 (68-203) with 25 steals in two seasons while donning the Royal Blue. Both players will be missed, on and off the field, in 2010.
