Box Score DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – Freshman Brittany Deieso (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) led a 12-hit Valiant attack with two hits and three RBIs while senior Alyssa Taylor (Craik, Sask./Craik) set a new Freedom Conference record with her 23rd win of the season as the top-seeded Manhattanville softball team kicked off the postseason with a 9-1 (5 inn.) win over fourth-seeded Misericordia in game one of the 2014 Freedom Conference Softball Championships, hosted by Delaware Valley College on Friday.
 
Manhattanville (25-8) advances to the winner's bracket with the win, where the Valiants will play the winner of today's second game between King's (Pa.) and FDU-Florham later this afternoon at 3 p.m. Misericordia (23-14) falls into the loser's bracket and will face the loser of King's and FDU tomorrow at 9 a.m. in an elimination contest.
 
The newly minted Freedom Player of the Year, Taylor (23-6) had no trouble with the Cougars, allowing only two hits and striking out five on the way to the win. The senior's 23rd win of the year broke a tie with Kat Lucenti of Misericordia for the Freedom Conference's single-season wins mark, and moves her into sixth place all-time in the Middle Atlantic Conference.
 
Meanwhile, the Manhattanville offense continued to roll against the Freedom Conference Pitcher of the Year, Bailee Schies (12-6). The bottom of the order dominated for the Valiants, as the final four of Deieso and seniors Kirsten Savage (Harrington Park, N.J./Old Tappan), Emily Frawley (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) and Shauna Mulkerin (Branchburg, N.J./Immaculata) combined to go 8 for 10 with six runs scored, five RBIs and two walks. Deieso drove in three and scored twice, while Savage and Frawley both scored twice to lead the attack.
 
The Valiants got on the board first in the second inning, using a two-out rally to take a two-run lead. It was the bottom of the order that did the damage, as Savage and Frawley singled with two down before Deieso doubled home both runners on a full-count pitch.
 
Manhattanville doubled its lead with some timely two-out hitting in the third, getting back-to-back RBI singles from Taylor and Savage that made it a 4-0 lead after three. The team took a 5-0 lead in the fourth on a run-scoring single by junior Rosaria Callara (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale).
 
Taylor made her only mistake in the fifth inning, when Samantha Hare launched a one-out homer to make it a 5-1 game. She also allowed another single in the frame, but stranded Misericordia's only two baserunners to keep it a four-run lead.
 
But the Valiants responded nicely to that lone run, scoring four times to end the game early. Three walks and a Frawley infield single drove home one run, followed by a two-run base hit from Mulkerin. Sophomore Alyx Scapperotti (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) provided the final blow, reaching on an infield grounder to end the game.