PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College softball team closed out the 2017 regular season on Sunday afternoon, as the Valiants dropped a pair of one-run games to Ithaca College by the scores of 5-4 and 1-0 at Manhattanville Field.
Before the game, Manhattanville recognized its five graduating seniors, as
Laurel Coito (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic),
Shelbee Damianos (Ojai, Calif./Nordhoff),
Adrena Daw (Crompond, N.Y./Walter Panas),
Brittany Deieso (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) and
Alicia Marino (Mahopac, N.Y./Pleasantville) were appearing at home for the last time.
Game 1: Ithaca 5, Manhattanville 4
Ithaca scored four runs in the top of the first inning of game one and Manhattanville never fully recovered, as the Valiants came up one hit short in a 5-4 loss. Marino had all four runs batted in for the home team in the defeat.
The Bombers scored four times in the first inning to take an early lead, all after the first two batters were retired by junior
Alycia Feeney (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster). Two straight hits and a pair of Valiant errors allowed two runs to cross the plate, followed by a two-run homer from Hannah Anderson.
Marino got the home team on the board in the third with an RBI single to score sophomore
Sophia Chapelone (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon), but Ithaca got the run back in the top of the fourth to regain its four-run edge. That run proved to be key, as Manhattanville scored three times with one swing of the bat in the fifth inning on a Marino three-run homer that cut the deficit to one.
The Valiants loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh in the hopes of walking off with a win, but Haley Congdon induced a pop up to end the threat and the game. Congdon (13-3) limited Manhattanville to five hits in seven innings in earning the win, while Feeney (13-5) suffered her first loss since March 15 by allowing five runs on 10 hits.
Game 2: Ithaca 1, Manhattanville 0
The second game of the day was a pitchers' duel between Ithaca's Shannon Grage and Manhattanville sophomore
Aarin Hartenstein (Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge), with both teams going scoreless until the Bombers scratched across a run in the top of the seventh to earn the 1-0 win.
The Valiants nearly got on the board in the second when Marino launched a shot to the opposite field that caromed off the top of the wall and came back. The home team also had a chance to score in the third, but Deieso was thrown out at the plate after attempting to score on a Coito groundout.
Hartenstein allowed only one hit through the first five innings and left a runner stranded at second in the sixth. But in the seventh the Bombers conjured up another two-out rally, as Grage doubled to right field and her pinch runner scored on a pinch-hit single by Abby Shields.
The Valiants again had the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh but could not get the big hit, as Grage got a groundout to end the game and complete the sweep. Grage (5-2) scattered five hits in the shutout, while Hartenstein (9-4) was the tough-luck loser despite allowing only five hits of her own.
Manhattanville will look to rebound in the postseason, as the top-seeded Valiants will travel to Doylestown, Pa., for the MAC Freedom Championships beginning on Friday morning against fourth-seeded Misericordia University. Check GoValiants.com later this week for a full tournament schedule and preview.
