WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Manhattanville College softball team's chances for a repeat came to a halt on Sunday afternoon, as the Valiants dropped two games to King's (Pa.) College by 9-1 scores in Freedom Conference action at the Betzler Athletic Complex.
The two losses dropped Manhattanville to 11-17 (3-9 Freedom) on the season, officially eliminating the squad from postseason contention and snapping the conference's second-longest active postseason streak at five seasons. Conversely, King's (12-11, 8-4 Freedom) clinched a postseason berth with the two victories on Sunday.
The Valiants struggled at the plate all day against the Lady Monarchs, combining for just nine hits in 10 innings in the two losses.
Manhattanville managed only three hits in game one, as King's scored twice in the first two innings and never looked back in a 9-1 win.
Freshman
Alexis Ventarola (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) went 1 for 2 with a triple and also scored the lone run of the game for the visitors, coming home on a sacrifice fly by sophomore
Brittany Deieso (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) in the fourth inning. Sophomore
Shelbee Damianos (Ojai, Calif./Nordhoff) and freshman
Mackenzie Trainor (Port Jervis, N.Y./Port Jervis) also recorded hits as well.
Manhattanville got on the board first in game two, but the team's single run in the first inning was countered by nine straight Lady Monarch tallies in another 9-1 defeat.
Ventarola again was the team's top hitter, going 2 for 3 with another run scored. Deieso also had a pair of hits in three at-bats, while sophomore
Melissa Iarocci (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) and junior
Alyx Scapperotti (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) both singled as well.
Ventarola led off the game with a single, advanced to third on a Deieso bunt single and came home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Damianos. However, King's responded with four runs in the bottom half to quickly take back control of the game.
Manhattanville will begin the final week of the regular season on Wednesday, when the Valiants host Lehman College for two games at Manhattanville Field beginning at 3 p.m.
