MAY 6, 2017

KING'S SOFTBALL STUNS TOP-SEEDED MANHATTANVILLE 2-0 TO ADVANCE TO FREEDOM TOURNEY TITLE GAME

Tournament Web Site

WILKES-BARRE -- Freshman pitcher Kristina Kocher threw the game of her life, tossing a nifty three-hitter as the third-seeded King's College softball team stunned top-seeded defending champion Manhattanville College 2-0 to reach the championship game of the 2017 Freedom Conference Tournament.

With the win, King's improved to 19-17 while Manhattanville slipped to 27-13 in the double-elimination event. The Monarchs will now play for the league title Sunday at 1:00 PM.  King's will play the survivor of the Manhattanville-Misericordia elimination game Sunday morning. Misericordia eliminated Wilkes with a 5-0 victory in game-four of the tournament on Saturday.

King's defeated second-seeded Wilkes 9-1 in its opening game while Manhattanville bested fourth-seeded Misericordia 8-0 in the other first-round pairing. With King's holding a 2-0 record as the lone unbeaten team in the event the Monarchs will have to be beaten twice by the Manhattanville-Misericordia winner. If the Monarchs win one game they will not only capture the league championship, they will receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III National Tournament.

Both teams struggled offensively as pitching a defense dominated early on. But King's began to make some headway in the fourth inning when Lexi Wolk drew a walk and Megan Beaupre singled with two outs. But the Monarchs would be retired without scoring.

The Monarchs had another opportunity in the fifth when Brittany McNair and moved to third on a base hit by Ally DeVoir with one out. But the Monarchs were again unable to register a base hit as the game remained scoreless.

It was more of the same in the sixth for King's as Wolk and Beaupre singled and advanced to third and second respectively on a wild pitch. But once again the Monarchs were unable to take advantage as Manhattanville retired the final two batters of the inning.

King's finally broke through in the top-of-the-seventh when McNair singled and DeVoir doubled with no outs. Bloom then delivered  RBI single to give King's a 1-0 lead. Wolk then reached base on an infield error, allowing DeVoir to score from third as King's took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the frame.

With Manhattanville facing its final at-bats, Kocher promptly walked leadoff hitter Alicia Marino. But Kocher struck out Delores Diemicke, induced a shallow fly ball by Aarin Hartenstien, then struck out Brittany Deieso to end the game.

Kocher improved to 7-5 on the year by striking out seven batters and walking  just one in the game. She allowed just one Valiant baserunner through the first four innings and did not allow a Manhattanville baserunner to advance beyond second base the entire game.

King's had eight hits in the game McNair and DeVoir were both 2-for-3 with a run scored while Beaupre went 2-for-4 Wolk and Bloom also added base hits.

Melina Strano, Marino, and Hartenstein had one hit each for Manhattanville.  Hartenstein was also the losing pitcher, allowing two runs on seven hits and struck seven batters.

Day-One Results
#1 Manhattanville def. #4 Misericordia, 8-0 (5inn)
#3 King's def. #2 Wilkes, 9-1
#3 King's def. #1 Manhattanville, 2-0
#4 Misericordia def. #2 Wilkes, 5-0

Sunday Schedule
#1 Manhattanville vs. #4 Misericordia, 11:00 AM
#3 King's vs. Manhattanville-Misericordia winner, 1:00 PM (Championship)
#3 King's vs. Manhattanville-Misericordia winner, 3:00 PM (Championship #2 if necessary)