DANBURY, CONN. – The Manhattanville University softball team will carry a 23-game winning streak into its biggest games of the regular season this weekend following the Valiants' doubleheader sweep of WestConn on Thursday. Manhattanville improves to 23-7 on the year with the pair of wins heading into Sunday's matchup with Farmingdale, the other team sitting atop the Skyline Conference standings with a perfect conference mark.
Game One Recap: Manhattanville 10, WestConn 0
Charli Shinstine (Encinitas, Calif./San Dieguito Academy) allowed just one hit while the Valiant offense erupted for six runs in the seventh to blank the Wolves in the opener.
Shinstine tossed her ninth shutout of the season as she improved to 10-5 with the victory. The graduate pitcher extended her scoreless streak to 56 consecutive innings, having not allowed a run since Mar. 26. Shinstine did not allow a hit until the sixth inning, with Sydney Chenoweth the only batter that was able to solve the Valiant starter with a single. While issuing a walk and hitting a pair of batters, Shinstine retired 12 Wolves via strikeout to hold WestConn off the board.
The Wolves did not do themselves any favors in the field by committing eight errors over the course of the game. Despite the multiple miscues benefiting them, the Valiants would not truly pull away until the final inning. Manhattanville got on the board in the second after a pair of errors put the first two batters of the inning aboard.
Samantha Reyer (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) cashed in with an RBI single to plate
Juliana Parkes (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada/Belmont Secondary), but Manhattanville would be able to further the lead as they left a pair in scoring position.
The Valiants built on to the advantage in the fourth. After
Alexa Lazur (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) reached on a leadoff error and Reyer laced another single,
Isabella Tansey (San Diego, Calif./University City) tripled to plate both runners. Tansey notched another RBI in the sixth on a ground out that plated Reyer, who led off the frame with a double to put Manhattanville up 4-0.
After threatening big innings all game, Manhattanville finally broke through with six runs on four hits and two more Wolf errors in the seventh. A
Sarah Harker (Irvine, Calif./Irvine) double and walks by
Amaya Esparza (San Diego, Calif./Granite Hills) and
Angelina Cruz (Oceanside, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista) loaded the bases with two outs. Reyer came through again with a two-run single to put the Valiants up by six.
Olivia Fasce (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) and Tansey drew back-to-back walks to plate a seventh run, before the Wolves' eighth error of the game allowed Reyer to score with run number eight.
Samantha Walsh (Spring City, Pa./Owen J Roberts) capped off the inning with a two-run single to put the Valiants up 10-0. Shinstine set down the side in order in the bottom half to secure the win.
Both Reyer and Harker finished with four hits in the opener. Tansey and
Madison Gonzales (Azusa, Calif./Sacred Heart) successfully stole a base in the win.
Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 8, WestConn 3
The Wolves shored up their defensive play by committing no errors in the backend of the doubleheader, but a pair of four-run Valiant innings led Manhattanville to the sweep of the day's action.
The Valiants found themselves in unusual territory as of late, trailing after the first inning after the Wolves got a run on Kendall Allen's RBI single.
Emily Mottoshiski (Craryville, N.Y./Taconic Hills) was able to limit the damage to the lone run on three hits in the inning, stranding a pair of runners.
Manhattanville was able to get in front in the third with four runs on four hits. Fasce reached on a hit by pitch to open the inning, advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt and a single by Walsh. Harker cleared the bases with a two-run triple and scored two batters later alongside Esparza on a two-run double off the bat of
Rachel Coleman (Lake Forest, Calif./Mission Viejo) to pull ahead 4-1.
The score held steady until the fifth when WestConn plated a pair on a Charline Plasczynski single to pull back within one. That would be all the Wolves would get against Mottoshiski on the day as the junior improved to 10-1 in the circle. Despite allowing nine hits, Mottoshiski issued just one walk and one hit by pitch and was able to navigate the traffic on the basepaths with timely ground outs and a pair of strikeouts.
With their lead down to a lone run, the Valiant bats plated some insurance in the seventh. Harker hit her second triple of the game with one away to bring Walsh and Tansey home. The graduate outfielder scored herself two batters later on a Coleman RBI ground out before a pinch-running
Cady Sickler (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) score from second on Parkes' single to put the Valiants up 8-3.
Mottoshiski worked around a leadoff single in the bottom half to get the next three outs without any further damage, completing the sweep.
Parkes led the way at the plate with a 3-for-4 outing, while Harker drove in a team-high four on the game.
Up Next
It's a heavyweight battle in Purchase on Sunday as the top two teams in the Skyline meet with first place in the standings up for grabs. The Valiants host Farmingdale State for a doubleheader starting at noon.
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