Boxscore

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Cinderella run of the Manhattanville softball team through the 2011 Freedom Conference Tournament ran out of gas in the championship round on Saturday afternoon, as Mother Nature and a potent King's (Pa.) College offense conspired to deal the Valiants a 10-2 (6 inn.) defeat in game six of the tournament at the Betzler Athletic Complex.

King's (17-12, 8-6 Freedom) wins its 10th Freedom Conference Tournament title in the last 12 seasons with the victory, as the Monarchs complete the tournament unbeaten (3-0). Manhattanville gave it a good ride on Saturday, staving off elimination twice and sending a pair of teams home, but the Valiants complete their 2011 season with a 16-18 (8-6 Freedom) record.

The third game of the day started nicely for Manhattanville, as the visitors got a run in the top of the first on a two-out single to center by senior Samantha Howe (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./John Jay) to take an early lead. However, the weather quickly changed and the rains barreled in soon after, but not before King's scored three times in the bottom of the frame on a passed ball and a two-out, two-run double by Kaitlin Siegfried.

After the first inning, the rain became took much and the game was halted for nearly three full hours due to rain and the subsequent cleanup of the field. After a spectacular job by the King's ground crew to get the field playable once again, play resumed at 5:47 p.m. in the top of the second.

After the lengthy delay, both teams were kept at bay until the bottom of the fifth inning, when King's scored five times to put some distance between the two teams. Two more Monarch runs in the bottom of the sixth before the Valiants recorded an out invoked the mercy rule and sent King's to the title early.

Howe (14-13) suffered the loss for Manhattanville, ceding all 10 runs (nine earned) on nine hits in five-plus innings. King's hurler Brittany Haight earned the win, allowing two runs on eight hits in six innings.

Seven Valiants had at least one hit in the title game, with sophomore Kim Angiolillo (White Plains, N.Y./Good Counsel Academy) leading the team with two hits and a run batted in.

The game marks the final collegiate contest for the Valiants' four seniors: Howe, Nicole Bifulco (Howard Beach, N.Y./St. Francis Prep), Kaitlin Degnan (Irvington, N.Y./Irvington) and Lindsay Zekus (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y./Sleepy Hollow).