PURCHASE, N.Y. – Despite having their program-record winning streak snapped at 31 straight with a loss in the opener of the second day of the Skyline Conference Championship double elimination bracket, the Manhattanville College softball team will be playing for a title on Saturday. The Valiants bounced back from an early morning 3-2 walkoff loss against No. 2 Farmingdale State with a 4-0 shutout of fourth-seeded Mount Saint Mary later on Friday afternoon. The split action, in conjunction with Farmingdale's win, sets the stage tomorrow for a Valiant-Ram championship matchup for the third straight year.

Game 5 Recap (Winner's Bracket Semifinals): Manhattanville 2, Farmingdale 3 (Eight Innings)
As a teaser for the action awaiting tomorrow, the top-seeded Valiants squared off with Farmingdale to open up the three-game slate for the day. As to be expected in a meeting between the Skyline's finest, offense came at a premium and extra innings would be needed to determine a winner. Farmingdale, who served as the home team in the contest following a coin flip win yesterday, walked off the game in the bottom of the eighth with a Priscilla Rivera double to score Jenna Giliberti, who had reached with a one out walk.

The double not only halted Manhattanville's historic win streak, but handed Charli Shinstine (Encinitas, Calif./San Dieguito Academy) her first loss of the entire season. The senior hurler falls to 20-1 on the year after giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits and a pair of walks. Shinstine struck out seven as she continues to build upon the new program record for career punchouts she set yesterday.

It was the first time Shinstine had allowed two or more runs since April 15 when Mount Saint Mary put three on the board against her. Despite the loss, Shinstine's ERA still stands at a miniscule 0.69 for the 2023 campaign.

The Rams were able to get to Shinstine and the Valiants early as they scored a pair in the bottom of the first following a 1-2-3 opening half of the stanza. Giliberti led off the inning with a single back up the middle. Rivera followed with a sacrifice bunt attempt. Shinstine pounced on the ball and thought momentarily of attempting to get the lead runner before firing to first. The hesitation resulted in the throw sailing off target and allowing Giliberti to score and Rivera advancing to second. Rivera then went on to score on a pair of wild pitches as the Rams put the Valiants in a situation they had not been in a while, attempting to dig out of an early hole.

On the other side of the field, Ava Shorr made that mission extremely difficult as Farmingdale's starter limited Manhattanville to just two hits over the opening five innings. Shinstine settled in following the rocky start to the game, holding the score steady at 2-0 entering the sixth.

The Valiant bats finally found success against Shorr as Sarah Harker (Irvine, Calif./Irvine) hit a one out single to center. That brought the power threat of Amaya Esparza (Descanso, Calif./Granite Hills) up to the dish who immediately delivered with a two-run homer to left center to tie the game up at 2-2. The deep fly was Esparza's 11^th home run of the year.

With new life having seemingly found an answer to Shorr in the circle, the Valiants threatened in the seventh. Madison Gonzales (Azusa, Calif./Sacred Heart) delivered a leadoff single off the bench and advanced to second on Melissa Lopez' (Whittier, Calif./California) sacrifice bunt. That flipped the lineup to the top of the order with the go-ahead run in scoring position, but Shorr got an infield pop up and fielded a grounder herself to retire the side with no damage done. The Rams went down in order in the bottom of the seventh before the Valiants suffered an identical fate in the top of the eighth before Giliberti and Rivera delivered the heroics for the Rams to send them back to the Skyline finals.

Game 7 Recap (Elimination Game #2): Manhattanville 4, Mount Saint Mary 0
Following the day's opener, Mount Saint Mary defeated Saint Joseph's Brooklyn 5-3 to eliminate the Bears from the postseason and set up a rematch from Thursday's action between the Valiants and the Knights in a win-or-go-home scenario. Mount Saint Mary served as the home team due to the Valiants being the home squad during yesterday's game between the two teams.

While Shinstine stymied the Knights yesterday, the Valiants opted to not push her for a second game on the day and instead turned to Emily Mottoshiski (Craryville, N.Y./Taconic Hills) in the circle. The decision paid off, as the sophomore tossed a four-hit complete game shut out to help Manhattanville survive and advance to Saturday's finals. Mottoshiski struck out four and didn't issue a single walk in the win. Mottoshiski benefited from 10 fly outs and seven ground balls as she needed 95 pitches to go the distance and collect her 16^th win as her season ERA dips to 2.49.

Opposing Mottoshiski was Grace MacDonald, who held the Valiants to one hit across the first two innings. The Valiants would break through to the Knights' starter in the third. With one away, Harker reached on an infield single before stealing second. Esparza moved her up a base with a single through the left side before Harker scored on Samantha Walsh's (Spring City, Pa./Owen J Roberts) infield single. MacDonald ended the rally with a pair of strikeouts to limit the damage to just one run.

While the Knights got a hit in each of the third and the fourth innings, Mottoshiski kept the runners stranded at first. The Valiants would go on to take advantage of the Knights' fifth error of the game in the fifth. Walsh popped up off the end of her bat towards the right side of the field, but the shallow popup was dropped and allowed her to reach successfully. The sophomore then advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Sydni Brooks' (Anaheim, Calif./Cypress) single to left to put the Valiants up 2-0.

Manhattanville added two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh. Harker legged out an infield single before Esparza drove a double to left to put a pair in scoring position. Harker scored on a Walsh ground out, while Cady Sickler (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) replaced Esparza on the bases and scored on Brooks' double to center. Protecting a four run lead, Mottoshiski worked around Samantha Bendig's leadoff double by setting down the next three batters in order to close out the game.
Juliana Parkes (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada/Belmont Secondary) joined Harker, Brooks and Esparza with a two-hit game in the victory.

Up Next
It will be No. 1 Manhattanville vs No. 2 Farmingdale tomorrow with the Skyline Conference Championship title on the line. The Valiants and Rams will meet at 1 p.m. tomorrow for Game 8 of the postseason bracket. The Rams need just one win tomorrow to be crowned conference champions, while the Valiants will need to win both Game 8 and the if-necessary Game 9 afterwards to raise the trophy.

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