Old Westbury, N.Y. - For the first time since 2013, the East Coast Conference Championship for softball will reside in Rockville Centre; the third-seeded Molloy College softball team, having defeated second-seeded LIU Post by a 4-0 score on Saturday (Apr. 30), are the queens of the diamond and the ECC champions.
The Lions were 2-0 in the tournament going into Saturday's series, having knocked off LIU Post and top-seed NYIT in back-to-back days to reach the finals. Molloy would be the visitors in the final game against the Pioneers, and the maroon and white would get on the board in the first inning against LIU Post starter Ashley Martin (Long Beach, N.Y.). With two outs, Milan Botte (Reston, Va.) was hit by a pitch; she then advanced to second as shortstop Brianna Dalton (Northampton, Pa.) reached on a botched fielder's choice. Sophomore catcher Alexandra Russo (Coram, N.Y.) promptly smacked a 1-1 pitch into left-center field for a base hit, scoring Botte with the game's first run.
The one-run lead held up through the first four innings and Molloy tacked on another run in the fifth inning thanks to a home run off the bat of freshman Kaitlyn Snyder (Smithtown, N.Y.); the Lions led 2-0 after five innings but the offense was not done. In the seventh, after Russo drew a walk to lead off the frame, sophomore Sarah Rambo (Eagleville, Pa.) golfed a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall to double Molloy's lead to 4-0. In the bottom of the seventh, LIU Post put two runners on base with two outs but a ground ball to second base ended the game and started the celebration for the maroon and white.
Botte and Tracey Balinskas (Edison, N.J.) were named Co-Most Outstanding Players of the ECC Tournament after the contest. Botte went 7-for-10 (.700) over three games at the plate with one home run, two doubles and four runs batted in to pace the maroon and white in the batter's box. Balinskas factored into all three games on the pitching side of statistics. The senior threw 17.1 innings, allowing just one earned run on 13 hits while striking out 12 batters. Balinskas had a five-inning relief appearance in the title game, surrendering just four hits while striking out six Pioneers.
The Lions will now await their fate as the NCAA Division II Softball Selection Show looms on Monday (May 2) at 10 a.m.
Provided by the Molloy Sports Information Department.
