PURCHASE, N.Y. – For the third time in four years and the 14
th total time in program history, the Manhattanville University softball team has captured conference gold as the top-seeded Valiants held on to defeat No. 2 Farmingdale State 9-6 in the Skyline Conference Championship final. The Valiants will now be NCAA Tournament bound for the 12
th time, earning the Skyline's automatic qualifier into the big dance.
The Valiants bounced back from a slow start on all aspects of the field as the reigning champion Rams plated a run in each of the first two innings. Farmingdale plated a run without a hit in the first as
Tahlia Smith (St. Helena, Calif./St. Helena) struggled with her location to open the day in the circle. A pair of walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases before a wild pitch allowed Madison Sturtz to score from third. The Rams drew another walk to reload the bags, but Smith was able to settle in with her first strikeout of the day and a foul out to
Angelina Cruz (Oceanside, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista) behind the dish to keep Farmingdale at bay with the lone run.
Farmingdale continued to find early success against Smith, loading the bases again in the second on a pair of singles and an error with no outs. The Valiants were able to get the first out as
Emma Foster (Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos) charged in to catch the ball off the bat of Bailey Hammock on a shallow fly, but the Rams cashed in on a Samantha Stolfi sacrifice fly to left, chasing Natalie McMichael home from third to put the visitors up 2-0.
After Smith got another fly out to limit the damage to just the two runs, Cruz led off the second with a walk to account for the Valiants' first baserunner of the day.
Sydni Brooks (Anaheim, Calif./Cypress) followed up with an infield popup that landed in no man's land for Manhattanville's first hit. The door swung open as the Rams' attempt to pick off Brooks at first ended up in the outfield, allowing Cruz to race home from second for the Valiants' first run. An error during
Samantha Reyer's (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) at-bat and a
Cady Sickler (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) walk after a ten-pitch at-bat brought
Alexa Lazur (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon) up to the dish with the bases loaded. The junior turned on the fourth pitch she saw, driving the ball over the right field wall for a grand slam and putting the Valiants in front for the first time, 5-2.
Working with a lead, Smith had her strongest inning of the outing by setting down the side in order with a pair of punchouts. Manhattanville went right back to work offensively in the bottom half as Cruz reached on an error and Brooks followed up with a single. Reyer hit a sharp grounder off the glove of the Rams' second baseman to allow Cruz to score, while Sickler hit a sacrifice fly to plate Brooks and put Manhattanville up 7-2.
That brought Lazur up again, who for her encore performance smacked a two-run homer to left to swell the lead to seven runs.
Lazur is the first Valiant since
Emily Mottoshiski (Craryville, N.Y./Taconic Hills) on April 22, 2025 to hit two home runs in a single game and the first to blast two deep flies in a postseason game since Evonne Torres accomplished the feat against Scranton in the NCAA Regional Round on May 11, 2019.
After a quiet fourth inning on both sides, the Rams began chipping away in the fifth. Hammock singled and advanced up to third on a pair of beautiful defensive plays by Foster, recording back-to-back putouts from right field. Hammock was able to score on a wild pitch, and while Foster had a chance to pull off the remarkable feat of three-straight 9-3 putouts, Alexandra Pole was able to just beat out the throw from right to keep the inning going.
A walk and a bases-clearing double by Isabella Marchini brought the Rams back within four, spelling the end for Smith's day in the circle. The freshman went 4.2 innings, allowing five hits and finished with six runs on her docket (five earned) while walking four and striking out five.
Jori Wilkendorf (Livermore, Calif./Livermore) was called upon for her first relief appearance since March 14 to get the final out of the inning. After giving up a single to Natalie McMichael to plate the inherited runner, Wilkendorf struck out Hailey Cannon to keep the Valiant lead at three, leading 9-6.
Wilkendorf sat down the side in the sixth on just six pitches, while the Valiants were held in check in their at-bats to send the game into the seventh protecting a three run lead. It was Wilkendorf's game to finish, getting a leadoff ground out before inducing a pair of popups to
Breanna Ochoa (South Gate, Calif./Saint Joseph) at second to capture the Valiants' first title since 2024.
For her two home run effort in the championship and her efforts in the entirety of the postseason run, Lazur was named the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
Brooks joined Lazur with two hits in the win, with the Valiants only collecting five hits as a team despite putting up nine runs.
Smith picked up the win, improving to 13-3 on her freshman season with a 2.62 ERA to enter the NCAA Tournament. Wilkendorf, meanwhile, has a sparkling 1.82 ERA on the season and fired 14.1 scoreless innings against Farmingdale this season, allowing just six total hits over her three appearances.
Up Next
The Valiants will found out where they're headed for the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Monday during the selection show at 11 a.m. Manhattanville will play their first game of the regional round on Thursday, May 14, with more information to follow on govaliants.com on Monday afternoon.
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