PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University softball team is a win away from capturing the Skyline Conference Championship title as the top-seeded Valiants defeated No. 2 Farmingdale 11-0 in the opening contest of Day Two of the double elimination finals. Manhattanville advances to Sunday's championship finale without a loss in postseason play, improving to 34-8 overall.
In her second outing against the Rams this season,
Jori Wilkendorf (Livermore, Calif./Livermore) was just as masterful in the circle against the reigning conference champs in round two as she was in the regular season meeting. After holding Farmingdale scoreless on three hits across seven innings on April 26, the junior continued to give the Ram batters fits on Friday morning. Wilkendorf allowed just two hits and a pair of walks in her five innings of work, not allowing a run for the 12
th time this season. The Rams only got one baserunner past second base against Wilkendorf on the day as the bats gave their starter plenty of separation to work with.
After a scoreless first inning, Manhattanville, batting as the away team, teed off for nine hits in the second to plate eight runs.
Samantha Reyer (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) and
Cady Sickler (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) led off with a pair of infield singles before
Breanna Ochoa (South Gate, Calif./Saint Joseph) cleared the bases two batters later with a two-run triple to begin the offensive barrage.
Ochoa came home to score easily on
Emma Foster's (Santa Barbara, Calif./San Marcos) ensuing double, who in turn advanced to third on
Josie O'Leary's (Pawling, N.Y./Pawling) single and scored on an
Isabella Tansey (San Diego, Calif./University City) sacrifice fly. Not content with the four runs already home in the inning,
Angelina Cruz (Oceanside, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista) continued with an RBI single to plate O'Leary.
Sydni Brooks (Anaheim, Calif./Cypress) delivered the seventh hit of the inning to put runners on first and second with two away, spelling an end to Madison DeMaio's start in the circle.
Kiara Kegel was tasked with coming in to keep the deficit at 5-0, but Reyer had other plans by dropping a single into left to score Cruz. Brooks then scored on a wild pitch before Sickler beat out another infield single to score Reyer, bringing an end to one of Manhattanville's biggest innings of the year with an 8-0 lead.
Seven of the eight runs were charged to DeMaio, who fell to 17-10 on the season with the loss. She would finish with 1.2 innings pitch, allowing eight hits and a walk while striking out just one.
Farmingdale looked to mount a response to the Valiant offensive eruption, leading off the second with a single and a walk, but Wilkendorf got a double play grounder and kept the Rams off the board with a second groundout to close out the frame.
Manhattanville continued to tack on in the later innings as Sickler hit a two run double in the fourth, scoring Brooks and Cruz, while Tansey had an RBI double in the fifth to bring home O'Leary with the 11
th run of the early morning.
Wilkendorf sat down the side in order in the bottom of the fifth to close out the game via run rule victory.
The Valiants had 14 hits as a collective, their most since their 22-hit effort against Mount Saint Vincent on April 23. Cruz joined the extra hit party with a double alongside Foster, Tansey and Sickler. Sickler finished 3-for-3 at the dish, her third three-hit performance of the year.
Up Next
Farmingdale was able to rebound from the loss to defeat No. 5 Old Westbury in the finale of day two's action, setting up a rematch between the Valiants and Rams in Game Eight for the championship. A Valiant victory would capture the conference title, while a win for Farmingdale would set up a winner-take-all Game Nine immediately after. With Saturday's inclement weather forecast, the championship final has been moved to Sunday with a 12 p.m. start.
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