ANNVILLE, Pa. (May 2, 2015) – A walk-off single through the left side by junior catcher
Taylor Church (Glen Mills, Pa.) punched the ticket for the second-seeded Widener softball into the Commonwealth Championship game, giving the Pride a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over fourth-seeded Lebanon Valley on Saturday afternoon at the LVC Softball Park.
Despite trailing 3-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh, Widener (25-7) notched a three-run frame to propel them into the Championship Final on Sunday at 1 p.m. After defeating Messiah, the Dutchmen earned their spot in the finals against the Pride.
Three straight singles to lead off the final frame by
Lauren DelRomano,
Ally Horvath, and
Heather Forward loaded the bases with no outs to give the blue and gold an opportunity for the win. After a popout, an LVC miscue allowed the first run of the inning to cross the plate and keeping the bases filled with freshman center fielder
Katie Sterling (Middletown, Del.) at the dish. The freshman sent a towering fly to the fence in left, but the Dutchmen left fielder Tessa Deardorff reeled it in but it was not a waste as pinch runner
Nicole Cavalier (Burlington, N.J.) was able to come home and Forward advanced to third on the sacrifice fly cutting the advantage to just one (3-2). That brought Church to the plate with two outs. The junior fouled off two pitches before finding the 5-6 hole for the walk-off base knock.
Over the course of the first six innings, the Pride struck first in the second frame on a squeeze bunt by sophomore third baseman
Angela Hood (Mullica Twp., N.J.), bringing home Sterling. In the top of the next frame, LVC pushed across all three of its runs on a two-RBI double by shortstop Jordyn Miller and another RBI double by first baseman Jasmine Dutton.
Horvath started the game in the circle, working the initial 2.1 innings and allowing three runs on seven hits. Sophomore
Alexis Schengrund (Hillsborough, N.J.) tossed the final 4.2 innings to improve her record to 14-2. She surrendered just one hit and two walks while fanning two.
Horvath and Church each finished the contest 3-for-4, and junior shortstop
Alie Alkins (Aston, Pa.) added a two-hit performance.
The Pride and Lebanon Valley will once again face-off for the 2015 Commonwealth Championship. The final will take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 3 at LVC Softball Park in Annville, Pa.
