PURCHASE, N.Y. – A celebratory Senior Day saw the Manhattanville University softball team sweep Old Westbury on Saturday afternoon. The Valiants improve to 26-8 overall with the wins, climbing to 15-1 in Skyline Conference action to clinch the No. 2 seed for next week's Skyline Conference Championship Tournament.
Prior to first pitch, the team celebrated Amaya Esparza (San Diego, Calif./Granite Hills) as the lone graduating senior of the Class of 2024. The team also recognized graduate students Sarah Harker (Irvine, Calif./Irvine) and Charli Shinstine (Encinitas, Calif./San Dieguito Academy) who returned for their fifth seasons this year, with the trio of honorees playing huge roles in the team's success this year in addition to their whole tenures as Valiants.
Game One Recap: Manhattanville 4, Old Westbury 0
It took until the sixth inning to plate a run in the opener, but the Valiants hung four runs on the board in the bottom half of the frame to take the day's first action.
Scoreless through the first five and a half innings, Manhattanville loaded the bases with one out on infield singles by Harker and Esparza and a Juliana Parkes (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada/Belmont Secondary) fielder's choice that couldn't retire a baserunner. The Panthers inched closer to escaping unscathed after a Rachel Coleman (Lake Forest, Calif./Mission Viejo) grounder was able to be played quickly enough at the hot corner to get Harker out at home on the force, but Samantha Reyer (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) finally got the team on the board, albeit in an unconventional manner, drawing a hit by pitch to plate pinch-running Madison Gonzales (Azusa, Calif./Sacred Heart).
The top scoring offense in the nation then cleared the bases in a more typical fashion as Alexa Lazur (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) laced a triple to left to plate three insurance runs.
Prior to the sixth inning, Shinstine and Old Westbury's Layla Ramos were locked in a pitcher's duel. Despite giving up a combined 16 hits, both arms were able to successfully navigated around traffic on the basepaths to snuff out scoring threats for a majority of the contest. Shinstine was able to get the strikeout pitch when she needed it, as the graduate arm struck out 12 to earn her 12th win of the season. Shinstine has now struck out ten or more batters in her last three games and still has not allowed an earned run since March 26, sending her season ERA plummeting down to 1.39.
In addition to her big hit that broke the game open, Lazur flashed the leather in the seventh, fielding a grounder on her back hand to begin a 5-5-3 game-ending double play. The rookie also made a web gem the inning prior with a diving catch on a Phylicia Cangemi popup, doubling up the runner on first to help escape another jam.
Harker had the most success at the plate in the opener for the Valiants with a pair of singles to go 2-for-3. Samantha Walsh (Spring City, Pa./Owen J Roberts), Reyer and Olivia Fasce (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) joined Esparza and Lazur in the hit column in the win.
Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 10, Old Westbury 0 (Five Innings)
After needing to scrap together runs in the opener, the Valiants plated 10 runs on 14 hits in the doubleheader finale, including an eight-spot in the fourth to complete the sweep.
Emily Mottoshiski (Craryville, N.Y./Taconic Hills) fired a gem in the circle to earn her 11th victory of the season, needing just 67 pitches to get through the five innings. The junior allowed just two hits and one walk in her fourth shutout of the season. While Mottoshiski only logged one strikeout, she continued to work to contact as she has all season long, getting eight groundouts and six flyouts.
The Valiants wasted little time to score in the backend, using a two-out rally to get on the board. Harker beat out an infield single and stole second to put herself in scoring position for Esparza, who found a hole on the right side of the infield for a single to plate the game's first run.
Manhattanville tacked on another in the third. Walsh got on board with one away off an infield single to bring Harker to the plate. The graduate deposited the pitch into right to allow Walsh to go from first to third, but as the Panthers threw the ball back into the infield, Harker danced between first and second. The distraction worked as Harker was tagged out at second while Walsh charged home to put the Valiants up 2-0.
The big blow came in the fourth as Manhattanville scored eight runs on nine hits to break the game wide open. Three-straight one out singles loaded the bases for Fasce who singled to right to plate the first run of the inning in the form of Coleman. Like Harker did in the third, Fasce made the most of getting caught in a pickle as she was stranded between bases, keeping herself alive long enough to allowed Reyer to score. Isabella Tansey (San Diego, Calif./University City) and Walsh delivered back-to-back RBI hits to extend the lead up to 6-0, before Esparza drove in another two batters later with a single.
The two-out rally continued with an RBI double off the bat of Parkes to expand the Valiants' lead up to 8-0. Cadi Sickler drove in the final two runs of the frame on a slow roller with the bases loaded. The Panthers tried to get the force out at second to put the inning to bed, but Sydni Brooks (Anaheim, Calif./Cypress) beat out the throw to allow Parkes and Victoria Barron (South Gate, Calif./Warren) to score to put the Valiants up 10-0.
Mottoshiski closed out the shutout in the top of the fifth, working around a leadoff double and a two-out walk to hold the Panthers scoreless for the second time on the day.
Up Next
The Valiants are scheduled to close out the conference slate tomorrow with a doubleheader at Purchase. First pitch is slated for noon.
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