PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University softball team staved off elimination in Saturday's action of the Skyline Conference Championship tournament, bouncing back from an opening loss to No. 2 Farmingdale in the day's first game with a late-inning rally to defeat No. 3 Old Westbury in the elimination bracket. The victory sets up a Sunday championship rematch with Farmingdale, with the Valiants now needing to defeat the Rams twice to secure a third-straight conference title.

Game One Recap: Manhattanville 2, Farmingdale 5
An opening inning of defensive miscues put the Valiants in a steep hole to begin the day as Manhattanville was unable to battle back against the Skyline Conference's Pitcher and Rookie of the Year, Melissa DeMaio.

Four Manhattanville errors in the first frame was the Valiants' own undoing as the Rams jumped out to a 4-0 lead as fans were still making their way to the outfield lawns. Only one of the runs would count as earned against Emily Mottoshiski (Craryville, N.Y./Taconic Hills), who did her best to settle back in around the misplays.

Mottoshiski helped out her own cause in the second, putting the Valiants on the scoreboard with an RBI single to plate Rachel Coleman (Lake Forest, Calif./Mission Viejo), who reached on a one-out double. Mottoshiski was left stranded at second as DeMaio set down the next two batters to end the inning, the start of 11 straight retired by the Rams' young arm.

Both offenses went cold over the middle innings before the Rams added a run in the fifth on a Madison Sturtz sacrifice bunt that allowed Angelina Capuano to score. Manhattanville got a pair on in the sixth but couldn't bring the runners home, heading into the seventh down four.

Mottoshiski worked around a pair of singles to keep the deficit where it was for the Valiants' final at-bats. The pitcher and Samantha Reyer (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) got something cooking with back-to-back one out singles. DeMaio got a foul out to drop the Valiants to their final out, bringing up Emma Foster (Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos). The freshman dropped a single in to right as Mottoshiski scored from second as the Rams were called for obstruction on the play at home. Isabella Tansey (San Diego, Calif./University City) stepped in as the tying run, but DeMaio got her to roll over on one to third for the final out of the game.

Mottoshiski fell to 16-6 with the loss, going seven innings and allowing five runs, two earned, on eight hits while walking four. The senior did not record a strikeout for the first time since Mar. 29 against Salisbury, a span of 21 games.

Olivia Fasce (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) had a double in the first as part of her 2-for-3 effort in the two-hole, Manhattanville's only extra basehit beyond Coleman's two-bagger in the second. Mottoshiski also went 2-for-3 at the plate.

Game Two Recap: Manhattanville 5, Old Westbury 3
After the Panthers took down No. 4 Mount Saint Mary in the first elimination game of the day, it was do-or-die for both teams to wrap up Saturday's play. The winner would survive and advance to Sunday's finals, while the loser would see their season come to a close.

A postseason rematch of last year's final, Saturday's meeting was a much different story between the Valiants and Panthers than the 2024 championship that saw the Valiants win via run rule, 10-1 in five innings, as well as the regular season meetings in which Manhattanville outscored Old Westbury 19-4 in a doubleheader sweep.

After the recent one-sided battles, Old Westbury came to play in Saturday's win-or-go-home scenario, taking a 3-1 lead in the fifth to put the Valiants on the brink of elimination.

Manhattanville took a 1-0 lead in the second, using a two out rally started by a Mottoshiski walk and Reyer infield single. The Panthers looked to get out of the inning as Alexa Lazur (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) popped up to the left side of the infield, but neither infielder could come up with the ball as it caromed off a glove to allowed Mottoshiski to score from second with the game's first run.

The score held steady at 1-0 as Jori Wilkendorf (Livermore, Calif./Livermore) was effective in working through the Panther lineup through the first four innings. The sophomore navigated a pair of errors in the second to keep the lead intact, as well as working over a double in the third that accounted for Old Westbury's first hit of the contest.

Old Westbury was able to finally solve the Valiant starter in the fifth, tagging her for three runs on five hits to swing momentum in the favor of the Panthers. The inning threatened to spiral further as Wilkendorf was able to strand a pair in scoring position with a groundout to bring the Valiant bats back up to plate at the top of the sixth.

Manhattanville picked up their sophomore arm in the new frame as one-out singles from Coleman and Mottoshiski ahead of a Reyer walk loaded up the bases. Liana Lara was called upon the pinch hit as the freshman delivered one of the biggest at-bats of her young career to draw a walk and cut the deficit down to one. One rookie's big play followed another, as Foster was able to tie the game up on a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Mottoshiski.

A whole new ball game at 3-3 entering the bottom of the sixth, Wilkendorf retired the leadoff batter before issuing a walk. The call was made to the pen to bring Mottoshiski back into the circle, who left the inherited runner stranded to send the game to the seventh still tied up.

Fasce drew a leadoff walk before Walsh hit a little nibbler to the right side of the infield, beating the throw to first to put the Valiants in position to do some damage. Coleman came through in the clutch with a one-out single back up the middle to score Fasce from second. Mottoshiski added an insurance run with another infield single that brought home Walsh for a 5-3 lead.

Mottoshiski went on to slam the door shut in the bottom half with a 1-2-3 seventh to keep the Valiants alive, heading to the final day of the postseason tournament for a fifth-straight year.

All eight of Manhattanville's hits were singles, with Mottoshiski going 3-for-3 at the plate. Tansey and Walsh added steals on the basepath.

Up Next
No. 1 Manhattanville and No. 2 Farmingdale run it back tomorrow starting at 1 p.m. A Ram win would secure Farmingdale its first conference title since 2022, while a Valiant victory will force a winner-take-all Game Nine of the championship tournament at 3 p.m.