Behind Brynn Lewis, the 2010 Northeast Conference Tournament MVP, and Blaire Porter's three complete-game wins, Long Island nabbed its 12th Softball Championship crown. Lewis tallied three homers in three games, to spearhead the lethal Blackbird offensive arsenal. It was Lewis who broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the seventh inning of the title tilt against Monmouth with a three-run bomb over the left field fence. Earlier in the day, MU advanced to the Championship game after besting Robert Morris, 5-4. LIU now awaits word on who it will face in the NCAA Tournament after its automatic bid with the win.
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Championship Game: #1 Long Island 6, #2 Monmouth 2
Teaneck, NJ -- Today's Championship game was a battle of the two true top seeds as the teams held a 2-2 deadlock through the fourth, fifth and sixth innings before Long Island ran away with it in the top of the seventh, scoring four.
Monmouth struck first with three singles, first by Chelsea Paprocki (Manassas, VA/Forest Park), who eventually came around to score on a wild pitch. Freshman Tish Derer (Philadelphia, PA/Saint Basil Academy) connected on the second single before All-Tournament teamer Emily deLong's (Rothschild, WI/DC Everest) single brought in Derer in the bottom of the second frame.
LIU then answered with a pair of its own runs off a Brynn Lewis (Woodinville, WA/Woodinville) RBI-double and Mariesha Marker's (Keizer, OR/McNary) avoidance of a tag at the plate on a fielder's choice.
From there, neither team could find any offensive power, though both threatened in each of the following three innings. It wasn't until the top of the seventh inning when Tournament MVP Lewis belted a three-run shot to give the Blackbirds a 5-2 edge. The very next batter, All-Tournament team member Raylene Asman (Escondido, CA/Escondido), increased the lead with a homer of her own down the left field line. With that, MU was unable to recover or score any runs in the gamefs final half inning.
The Blackbirds now advance to the NCAA Tournament in the midst of a five-game winning streak against an opponent to be announced Sunday, May 16.
Game #5: #2 Monmouth 5, #4 Robert Morris 4
Teaneck, NJ -- Robert Morris took the initial lead in the top of the first inning of Game #5 of the 2010 NEC Softball Tournament as Jaci Timko (Houston, PA/Chartiers-Houston) tripled to start the game. She then scored on a passed ball to give the Colonials a 1-0 advantage. In the bottom of the inning, Monmouth answered with two scores of its own from a Kayla Weiser (Vandergrift, PA/Kiski Area) two-run, two-out homer over the centerfield fence, bringing herself and Emily deLong (Rothschild, WI/DC Everset) - who singled just minutes before - across the plate.
After Britta Grafton (Jamestown, PA/Jamestown) and Timko got on base in the third inning via a single and walk, respectively, RMU's Allie Patton (Poland, OH/Poland) singled to bring both base runners home. Patton then touched home on a MU throwing error to give the Colonials a 4-2 lead.
RMU threatened again in the top of the fourth inning, but MU starter Lauren Sulick (Canfield, OH/Canfield) was able to pitch out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam that gave the Hawks an opportunity in the fifth, of which they took full advantage.
deLong blasted a three-run shot over the right field fence, putting her second-seeded contingent up by one. Those three runs were too much for RMU to overcome in their final attempt in the top of the seventh inning, thus ending the Colonials season for 2010. MU advances to the Championship game at 12:30 p.m. against top-seed Long Island.
2010 NEC Softball All-Tournament Team
Brynn Lewis, LIU (MVP)
Raylene Asman, LIU
Mariesha Marker, LIU
Blaire Porter, LIU
Emily deLong, MU
Lauren Sulick, MU
Sarah Capp, RMU
Britta Grafton, RMU
Katie Allendorfer, QU
Tournament MVP, Brynn Lewis, with Northeast
Conference Commissioner, Noreen Morris.
2010 NEC Softball Championships
Hosted by Long Island University, played on campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University
Tournament to be webcast live on NortheastConference.TV
Click Here For NEC Championship Day One Recaps
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Click Here For Banquet Video (Photo Montage)