Rockville Centre, N.Y. - On Saturday, the No.
25 Molloy College softball squad reigned supreme in the East Coast
Conference for the second-consecutive season, as the top-seeded
Lions were victorious by a 6-0 score against No. 3 seed Dowling
College in the title contest of the 2012 league championship at the
Dean G. Skelos Sports Complex in Rockville Centre, N.Y. With the
win, Molloy earned the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA
Division II Championship.
Molloy, which retired Dowling in order in the top of the first,
went off for three runs in the latter half. After a lead-off base
on balls by junior Jeana Frey (Island Park, N.Y.), and a double off
the bat of junior Megan Butterworth (Bellmore, N.Y.), the maroon
and white tallied their first run, off an ensuing sacrifice fly by
senior Carla Campagna (Floral Park, N.Y.). Just one batter later,
junior Haley Calderwood (Lake Elsinore, Calif.) put the hosts ahead
3-0 with a two-run homer to left field.
Molloy (42-10) added two more runs in the third, which extended the
edge to a comfortable 5-0. Campagna ripped a double into the
left-center field gap, plating both Frey and Butterworth. The Lions
had their second-straight crown locked up from there, as Dowling
(30-17) only left four runners on base, including two in scoring
position, the rest of the way. Calderwood was dubbed as the Co-Most
Valuable Player as a result of her efforts in the three post-season
games.
In the circle, junior pitcher Kelley Jansen (Long Beach, N.Y.), who
shared MVP recognition with Calderwood, surrendered a pair of hits,
and one walk, with 11 strikeouts in the victory. Meanwhile, senior
Jessie Stavola (Montauk, N.Y.) yielded three runs, two hits, and
one walk in 0.1 innings of work for the loss.
Head Coach Susan Cassidy-Lyke and the Lions will now await word on
where they sit in the NCAA Division II Championship field. The
bracket is slated to be released on Monday.
Provided by the Molloy Sports Information Department.
