BOX SCORE
Aston, Pa. (May 2, 2007) – Third-seeded Neumann College scored three runs in the first inning and stopped four separate comeback tries in a 4-2 win over #6 Alvernia College Wednesday afternoon in first round action of the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Softball Championship at Neumann.
The Knights (26-9) scored twice in the home half of the first before there were any outs on a bunt single and a two-run homer off the bat of second baseman Danielle Hayes (Carlisle, PA/Cumberland Valley). They generated their third first-inning run with a two-out double and successive singles. After plating another run in the second, the Knights held an early 4-0 lead.
Alvernia (21-16) began its comeback attempt with its first run in the third inning. Junior catcher Colleen Ambrosius (Philadelphia, PA/St. Basil Academy) led off with a single and stole second. With two outs and Ambrosius still on second, the Crusaders drew back-to-back walks to load the bases and broke through against Neumann starter Angela Sebasto (Trenton, NJ/McCorristin) when all three runners advanced on a wild pitch. The damage could have continued in the third, but Sebasto settled to get junior Jackie Rhoads (Dillsburg, PA/Northern York) on a pop out.
Alvernia starter Emily Williams (Minersville, PA/Nativity BVM) only had to pitch around trouble one more time in the game when Neumann loaded the bases in the fourth with one out. Williams induced a ground ball to second to force a runner at the plate and struck out Kristen Lawlor (Williamstown, NJ/Our Lady of Mercy), one of six strikeouts on the day, to end the threat. Williams finished with six innings pitched giving up four earned runs on nine hits and four walks.
The Alvernia offense threatened again in the top of the fifth when Ambrosius and junior shortstop Hollie Dobson (Tallytown, PA/Pennsbury) opened the inning with a single and a walk. Senior outfielder Allison McCready (Williamstown, PA/Williams Valley) sacrificed the runners to second and third, but Sebasto struck out a pair to end the Alvernia threat.
Williams helped her own cause in the sixth reaching on a one-out error. A two-out walk to Dobson four batters later forced home Alvernia’s second run. McCready had the Crusaders third chance in four innings to close the gap, but her ground ball to shortstop was fielded cleanly leading to the final out of the inning.
Williams worked around a one-out single in the bottom of the sixth setting up the Crusaders with a chance to complete the comeback in the seventh inning. Senior leadoff Suzanne Fox (Glassboro, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) opened the inning with a single and Rhoads followed two batters later with a one-out walk to put the tying run on base, but after a Williams strikeout, junior Beth Jablonowski (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) hit a grounder to third that was taken to the bag for the final out of the game.
No. 4 Eastern University advanced with a 7-3 win over #3 Cabrini College in the other opening round game. Both winners advance to the weekend double-elimination tournament at top-seeded Arcadia University along with #2 College Misericordia.
#3 Neumann 4, #6 Alvernia 2
