STANDISH, ME – Junior shortstop Lindsay Moore (Barrington, N.H.) singled home senior center fielder Danyelle Shufelt (Sutton, Vt.) with one out in the bottom of the eighth to lift #4 Saint Joseph's College (30-9, 18-6 GNAC) past #5 Johnson & Wales University (24-17, 16-8 GNAC), 1-0, in a GNAC Softball Tournament quarterfinal contest at Richard W. Bailey Field on Wednesday afternoon.
In the deciding frame, Shufelt led off with an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error by Johnson & Wales shortstop Cynthia Proby (Bremerton, Wash.). The senior captain moved up 60 feet on a Connie Grovo (Limington, Maine) sacrifice bunt and scored the game's lone run when Moore delivered a single to right, over the Wildcats' drawn-in outfield, to propel the Royal Blue to victory in a win-or-go-home tournament tilt.
In a new playoff rule for the GNAC this year, the first-round of the tourney is single-elimination and the four teams advancing to the weekend portion of the tournament will begin double-elimination play at the site of the highest remaining seed on Friday. With the victory, Saint Joseph's will face #8 Suffolk University, which stunned #1 Norwich University in other quarterfinal action today, in the next round with the site yet to be determined. The loss signals the end of the 2013 campaign for Johnson & Wales.
Saint Joseph's senior pitcher Kayla Vannah (Waldoboro, Maine) and Johnson & Wales junior hurler Taylor Cwalinski (Jackson, N.J.) locked heads in a classic pitchers' duel for six-plus innings, as the Monks' starter was lifted in favor of Theresa Hendrix (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) with one out in the top of the seventh.
Both teams had chances to score earlier, beginning with an opportunity wasted by the Wildcats in the top of the first. With two out, freshman Kristen Solari (Old Bridge, N.J.) lined a single to center and moved to third when junior Robyn Ziegler (Doylestown, Pa.) reached on an error by Hendrix in left field, but both runners would be stranded as Vannah induced a pop up to first base to cease the threat.
In one out the bottom of the third, Shufelt rapped a hustle-double but was marooned at second. The Monks posted perhaps their best effort in the fourth when freshman Alyssa Wade (Peru, Maine), who reached with a double, and Hendrix, who singled, stood on second and third with two out, but Cwalinski managed to work an infield popup out of sophomore Kim Jordan (Bangor, Maine) to cancel the opportunity.
The Wildcats squandered a chance to finally score the game's first run in the top of the sixth when Proby led off with a single down the right field line. With runs being at a premium, Solari was allowed to swing away and the visitors paid the price, as the Monks turned a slick 6-4-3 double play. The following hitter, Ziegler, hit a sharp single to left, a base knock that surely would have scored Proby from second.
JWU notched another chance in the top of the seventh when the Wildcats rapped consecutive singles to secure runners at first and second with one out. Given the scenario, Head Coach Jamie Smyth '92 decided to remove Vannah in favor of Hendrix, who managed to work out of the jam with back to back infield groundouts.
A pair of three-up, three-down frames followed before Shufelt and Moore provided late-game heroics to help the Monks advance to the next round of the GNAC Tournament.
In the circle, Vannah tossed 6.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts and seven hits allowed and Hendrix, now 5-1 on the season, worked 1.2 frames of perfect relief to collect the victory. Cwalinski fanned nine while yielding one run off six hits and a pair of walks in a losing effort.
Offensively, Shufelt and Moore both went 2-4 with a double for the Monks while Solari was 2-4 with a two-bagger and freshman designated player Ivelisse Morales (Jersey City, N.J.) added two hits in three trips for the Wildcats.
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 12-1 in the history of the series with Johnson & Wales University. The Monks, back-to-back GNAC Champions, have now won seven-consecutive GNAC Tournament contests. Also, Saint Joseph's has now notched at least 30 victories in four-straight seasons for the first time in program history.
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 350-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
