Monday, May 12, 2008

Friday 16

Softball at NAIA National Tournament vs. University of Mobile (AL) 10 am

vs. Oklahoma City University 5:30 pm

Saturday 17

Softball at NAIA National Tournament vs. Simon Frasier University (BC) 12:30 pm

vs. Columbia College (MO) 8 pm

SOFTBALL: Cavs (33-10, 18-2 AMC N) Win Region Title, Advance to NAIA Championships

Walsh (33-10, 18-2 AMC N) is headed back to the NAIA National Championships, after sweeping the NAIA Region IX Tournament held last week at Walsh.  The Cavs advance to Mobile, Alabama for the 20-team double elimination tournament which begins on Friday.  Walsh is making its third trip to the national tournament, having gone in 2000 and 2003. 

Brittany Sostre's (Fr., Parma, OH/Valley Forge) solo homerun snapped a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning, and gave Walsh a 2-1 win over Ohio Dominican University in their NAIA Region IX opener last Wednesday.  ODU took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, and held the lead until Walsh tied the game in the bottom of the fourth.  Dana Hartings (Sr., Chickasaw, OH/Marion Local) singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored the tying run on a Sostre single.  Hartings also picked-up the win, her 19th of the season, with a complete game performance.  She fanned four and scattered five hits. 

It was Sostre's bat again on Friday, as she homered twice in Walsh's 5-3 win over Notre Dame College (31-12), to catapult the Cavs into the title game.  Walsh took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Dana Hartings singled in Krystal Sherry (So., Brunswick, OH/Holy Name) with two outs.  Notre Dame erased the Walsh lead with three unearned runs in the third inning, and held the lead until the fourth when Sostre hit a two-run homer to left to tie the game.  Walsh struck for the winning runs with two outs and nobody on in the sixth, when Alyssa Knupp (Fr., Massillon, OH/Tuslaw) reached base on an error and rode home on Sostre blast to dead centerfield.  For Sostre, it was her team-leading 10th homerun of the season and third in her last four at bats.  Hartings (20-5) started and went the distance to record her 20th win of the season.  She scattered four hits and fanned four.

Walsh used the long ball and then played some small ball to capture their first region crown since 2003, as they defeated Mount Vernon Nazarene University 4-3 on Friday.  Walsh used the same formula in the championship game, as they came from behind for the third straight game in the tournament.  Mount Vernon Nazarene touched Walsh starter Dana Hartings for three runs in the fifth inning on a three-run double to left off the bat of Lauretta Wallace.  Walsh would then continue a trend that they have perfected all season long, the use of the long ball.  Chelsea Saunders (So., Hinckley, OH/Highland) singled with one out in the sixth and advanced to second on a single to left by Krystal Sherry.  Then the big blow of the game, a three-run homerun to left field by Hartings to tie the game at 3-3.  It was the 10th homerun of the year for Hartings and the 41st for the Cavs.  After Hartings retired the Cougars in the top of the seventh, Walsh used a little small ball to capture the region crown.  Shannon Spellacy (So., Brunswick, OH/HS) lined a one out double to left and advanced to third on an infield single off the bat of Ashley Hoover (Fr., Louisville, OH/Alliance).  After Laura Schmidt (So., Canton, OH/Jackson) popped out to second, Saunders slapped an infield single to score Spellacy with the winning run.  Hartings won all three games in the tournament and will take a 21-5 mark to Decatur.  She fanned five, walked one and scattered nine hits.  Walsh's 33 wins are the most since the 2003 season, when they won 38 games. 

The tournament format is as follows: The Softball Championship will be a 20-team pool play tournament featuring the champions of 13 regions and 7 at-large berths.  Teams will be seeded 1-20 and divided into 4 pools of 5 teams based on the seeds.  The top 2 teams of each pool will advance.  This format guarantees a minimum of 4 games for each team.

Walsh has been placed in Pool C and opens the tournament on Friday at 10 am against NAIA 4th ranked University of Mobile (36-7).  Walsh is the only unranked team in the pool.  The Cavs then tangle with NAIA 3rd ranked Oklahoma City University (45-10) at 5:30 pm.  Oklahoma City is from the Sooner Athletic Conference.  On Saturday, the Cavs battle NAIA 14th ranked Simon Fraser University (BC) (15-9) at 12:30 pm and meet NAIA 12th ranked Columbia College (MO) (35-9) at 8 pm.  Columbia is out of the American Midwest Conference.  The University of Mobile and Simon Fraser are independents.

Walsh placed five players on the All-AMC North Division Team, with pitcher Dana Hartings being selected Pitcher of the Year and Ed Vargo Coach of the Year. 

Hartings led the staff with 21 wins, against only 5 losses, with a 2.10 ERA.  She fanned 178 batters in 179 innings and completed 23 of 24 starts with five shutouts.  Even though she was selected as a pitcher, she was just as effective at the plate, hitting .403 with 10 doubles, 10 homeruns and 43 RBI.  She tied for the homerun lead with Brittany Sostre, with each setting a new standard for homeruns in a single season. 

First baseman/pitcher Krystal Sherry earned first team honors as the AMC's utility player.  Sherry hit .412 with nine doubles, five triples, nine homeruns and a team-leading 48 RBI.  Sherry was 12-5 on the mound with 13 complete games.  She was honorable mention All-AMC last year. 

Laura Schmidt is the AMC's first-team shortstop.  Schmidt, who earned honorable mention honors last season, hit .321 with six doubles, three homeruns and 20 RBI.  Chelsea Saunders and Alyssa Knupp (Fr., Massillon, OH/Tuslaw) earned two of the AMC’s three outfield spots.  Saunders led the Cavs with a .427 average, while Knupp earned first team honors and was also named to the All-Freshman Team.  Knupp patrolled centerfield and hit .355 with seven doubles, eight homeruns and 21 RBI.   Senior catcher Kelly Jackson (Akron, OH/Ellet) was named honorable mention.  Jackson hit .255 with six doubles and 11 RBI. 

BASEBALL: Cavs Place Nine on All-AMC Team

Walsh placed nine players on the All-AMC Baseball Team.  The Cavs placed three on first team, three on the second team and three on the honorable mention team.

Mike Suliks (So., Norton, OH/HS), Duston Walter (So., Malvern, OH/HS) and Ryan Indorf (Sr., Massillon, OH/Washington) were selected first team.  Suliks, Walsh's everyday second baseman, was named the AMC's utility player. Suliks hit .369 with a team-leading 15 doubles and 26 RBI.  He was a second team choice last year.  Walter was one of two catchers selected.  He hit .361 with four homeruns and 18 RBI.  This is his first time on the All-AMC Team.  Indorf was a second team choice in the outfield last year, and is the AMC's designated hitter this season.  Indorf hit .363 with 13 doubles, three triples, and a team-leading seven homeruns and team-best 45 RBI.  He also paced the team with 38 runs scored.

First baseman Jason Pettigrew (Sr., Massillon, OH/Jackson) earned second team honors for the second straight year.  Pettigrew hit .361 with 12 doubles, three homeruns and 36 RBI.  Centerfielder Mark Kelly (So., Norton, OHHS) earned second team honors after being named honorable mention last season.  Kelly hit .345 with seven doubles and 17 RBI.  Right-handed pitcher Chris Norris (Sr., Massillon, OH/Jackson) earned second team honors for the second time.  He also earned second team accolades in 2006.  Norris led the staff with seven wins (7-2), while sporting a .380 ERA.  He also led the team with five complete games.  His 19 career wins rank second all-time for Walsh. 

Shortstop Chad Campbell (Sr., Ashtabula, OH/Lakeside), catcher Tim Hromada (So., North Royalton, OH/Padua Franciscan) and outfielder Jeff Nicholas (Sr., Navarre, OH/Perry) were selected honorable mention.  Campbell earned honorable mention honors for the third time, after hitting .280 with 27 runs scored, four doubles and 14 RBI.  Hromada, who shared catching duties with Walter, hit .400 in 22 games, with three doubles and 11 RBI.  Nicholas earns all-conference honors for the first time after hitting .321 with 10 doubles, two triples, four homeruns and 35 RBI. 

WOMEN'S TRACK: 4X800 Relay Team Qualifies for Nationals

Walsh's 4x800m relay team qualified for next week's NAIA National Meet at the Cedarville University Challenge last Friday.  Megan Case (Fr., Louisville, OH/HS), Kristen LeFever (So., Alliance, OH/Marlington), Kristen Havens (Fr., Wadsworth, OH/HS) and Erin Koppel (Jr., McDonald, OH/HS) took first and qualified in a Walsh record time of 9:36.33.

Danielle Cofojohn (So., Diamond, OH/Southeast) placed second in the discus (119'9") and Maria Mudd (Jr., Suffield, OH/St. Thomas Aquinas) took third in the race walk, with a school record and qualifying time of 17:00.