Senior Alison Sumski earned All-NE-10 first team honors after finishing third in the NE-10 with 38 RBI and second in homeruns with nine. |
Skyhawks Look to avenge last season's semifinal lost to Adelphi
NE-10 Softball Championship Central
NE-10 Softball Championship Information
Game Program: Adelphi vs. Stonehill (PDF)
EASTON, Mass. (April 28, 2016) – Second-seeded Stonehill College makes its return to the Northeast-10 Conference Softball Tournament tomorrow afternoon with a second round matchup against third-seeded Adelphi University on the campus of host school and top-seeded Pace University at 2:30 p.m.
Admission for tomorrow's game at Pace Field will be $6 for adults, $4 for children and senior citizens and $1 for students with a valid ID from a participating school. Live stats and video streaming for all tournament games will be available at www.paceuathletics.com.
Stonehill (23-16, 19-8 NE-10), which earned a first round bye with its second-place finish in the NE-10 Northeast Division, will be making its sixth appearance all-time in the NE-10 Tournament and second consecutive. The Skyhawks are coming off of their best performance ever at the NE-10 Tournament, advancing to the semifinals a year ago, before being bounced by Adelphi.
Adelphi (28-19, 17-7 NE-10), the third seed from the NE-10 Southwest Division, advanced to tomorrow's contest with a 5-1 first round victory over fourth-seeded University of New Haven yesterday. The Panthers are making their seventh appearance in the NE-10 Tournament after joining the conference in the fall of 2009. Adelphi won its only conference championship in 2013, and were runners up a year ago, losing in the finals to Southern New Hampshire. That year the Panthers were selected to compete in the NCAA tournament and made it all the way to the College World Series, ending their season ranked No. 7 in the National Fastpitch Coaches' Association Division II National Poll.
The winner of tomorrow afternoon's matchup will advance to Saturday's semifinal to take on Southwest Division top seed Pace University at 2:30 p.m. Southern New Hampshire awaits the winner of tomorrow's other second round contest between No. 3 Assumption College and No. 2 Le Moyne University. The two semifinal winners will meet in Sunday's championship contest at Noon.
Stonehill will be making its fifth NE-10 Tournament appearance under seventh-year head coach Ken LeGrice, who took over the program in 2010. LeGrice led the Skyhawks to the postseason in his first year at the helm, and also guided the program to consecutive appearances in 2012 and 2013. He owns a career record of 151-143-2 (.515), including 108-85-1 (.560) in conference play.
Senior Sarah Ropiak will look to pitch the Skyhawks into the NE-10 semifinals. |
Stonehill enters tomorrow's action having won six of its last eight games over the final week of the regular season, including five straight. The Skyhawks went 12-5 in the month of April after posting a 4-8 record during their season-opening trip down in Florida.
All-NE-10 second team selection Sarah Ropiak (Acton, Massachusetts/Acton-Boxborough) anchors Stonehill's pitching staff, which ranked sixth in the conference with a 2.87 team earned run average during the regular season. Ropiak went 12-8 in the circle this spring with a 2.87 ERA (13th in the NE-10), recording 82 strikeouts and holding opponents to a .239 batting average in a team-high 122 innings of work. The junior went the distance in ten of her starts, posting three shutouts.
The Stonehill offense is powered by All-NE-10 first team selections, senior second baseman Alison Sumski (Amherst, New Hampshire/Souhegan) and catcher Megan Staudle (New Windsor, New York/Cornwall Central). Sumski led the Skyhawks during the regular season with ten doubles, nine homeruns and 38 RBI to go with a .331 batting average. Staudle hit a career-high and team-high .369 for the season with 21 RBI and 23 runs scored. Junior Michelle Carbone (Deer Park, New York/St. Anthony's) was excellent for Stonehill at the plate and on the mound, earning second team All-Conference accolades. Carbone hit .366 to go with five homeruns, 27 RBI and 27 runs, while pitching to a 5-2 record with a 1.41 ERA (second in the NE-10) in 44.2 innings pitched.
Adelphi landed seven players on the All-Conference teams, including the Player of the Year and the Defensive Player or the Year. Sophomore Brenna Martini (Fairfield, Connecticut/Fairfield Ludlowe) earned Player of the Year honors after leading the conference in almost all offensive categories. She paced both the team and conference in average (.455), home runs (13), RBIs (54), walks (35) on base percentage (.558) and slugging percentage (.927). Sophomore second baseman Nicole Camera (Metuchen, New Jersey/Metuchen) was awarded with the Defensive Player of the Year after boasting a fielding percentage of .982 with 84 putouts and 83 assists on the year. She adds this year's honors to First Team and All-Rookie selections last year as a freshman.
On the mound, Junior Lindsay Mapes (Mount Vernon, Ohio/Centerburg) earned third team All-Conference honors to lead Adelphi, posting a 15-11 record with a 3.44 ERA and 129 strikeouts over 165 innings pitched.
2016 Northeast-10 Conference Softball Tournament
Wednesday, April 27 - First Round
Game 1: #3 Assumption 3, #4 Merrimack 2
Game 2: #3 Adelphi 5, #4 New Haven 1
CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND (hosted by Pace)
Friday, April 29 - Second Round
Game 3: #3 Assumption vs #2 Le Moyne – Noon
Game 4: #3 Adelphi vs. #2 Stonehill – 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 30 - Semifinals
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. #1 NE So. New Hampshire – Noon
Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. #1 SW Adelphi – 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 1 - Finals
Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner – Noon
