Huntingdon College Wins Great South Athletic Conference Softball Championship
Suicide Squeeze in Eighth Inning Clinches Victory for Hawks
Macon, Ga. - The Huntingdon College Hawks took home the 2006 Great South Athletic Conference softball title once again on Monday by defeating the Lions of Piedmont College 2-1 in eight innings. The game ended on an exciting suicide squeeze that was perfectly executed by junior Rachel Moya to score teammate Kasey Andrews. Having lost all of their regular season match ups to both Piedmont and LaGrange, Huntingdon came away from the tournament with three major victories that led to their Championship title.
Game 1: #1 Piedmont College 3, #2 LaGrange College 1
In a game in which the winner advances to the GSAC Softball Championship, #1 Piedmont College continued their season-long dominance of #2 LaGrange College, defeating the Panthers 3-1. The Lions took advantage of two Panther errors in the second inning to jump out to an early 3-0 lead. A single by Lindsay Drevlow scored May Alves and Leah Della Torre's two run shot brought in Emily Maxey and Meredith Ray. Piedmont's Meredith Ray, the GSAC Pitcher of the Year, worked herself out of a two out bases loaded jam in the third inning, surrendering only one run, which would be LaGrange's only score of the day. Ray struck out seven batters while walking only one in the victory, which moved her record in the tournament to 2-1. LaGrange's Amanda Daniel took the loss, dropping her tournament record to 1-2.
Game 2: #3 Huntingdon College 2, #1 Piedmont College 1 (8)
The Huntingdon College Hawks captured their third GSAC Softball Championship crown in four years on Monday afternoon, defeating the #1 seeded Piedmont Lions 2-1 in eight innings. Piedmont was the first team on the scoreboard, when junior catcher Madie Fuston singled, bringing in teammate Amanda Powell in the third inning. However, Huntingdon bounced back in the fourth to tie the game at 1-1 when Nicole Marshall's base hit scored Jessica Turner.
With the score still tied at one apiece, the game went into extra innings with the international tiebreaker in effect. Huntingdon freshman Kasey Andrews advanced from second to third on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Nicole Hill. In the next at bat, Andrews scored on a suicide squeeze single by junior Rachel Moya to take the lead before ending the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth, Piedmont was able to advance freshman Leah Della Torre to third base on a sacrifice bunt by senior Heather Denne. Huntingdon pitcher Alyssa Ryan then made an excellent play with Della Torre on third to hold her on base while getting the crucial second out of the inning for the Hawks. With two outs, Piedmont's May Alves hit the ball along the first base line, and with a flip from Huntingdon first baseman Jessica Reeves to second baseman Amanda Helton, the Championship once again belonged to the Hawks.
Huntingdon College Head Coach Angela Cook accepted the Championship trophy stating, "These girls are unbelievable! They fought hard all weekend and played with so much heart. One of my girls really summed up our entire tournament effort when she said that we all had each other's backs this whole tournament and that was why we were able to win. We also had a tremendous pitching performance by Alyssa Ryan all weekend, and I'm so proud of how she played throughout the tournament."
The Hawks junior pitcher Alyssa Ryan received the tournament Most Valuable Player award for her incredible pitching performances during the Championship. She finished the weekend a perfect 4-0, earning wins over Piedmont College, LaGrange College and Wesleyan College.
Courtesy of Wesleyan College Sports Information Department
2006 GSAC Softball Championship Tournament Final Results
Mathews Athletic Complex, Wesleyan College, Macon, Ga.
Final Tournament Statitistics
Monday, April 24
Game 13- #1 Piedmont 3, #2 LaGrange 1 (LaGrange Eliminated) Box Score
Game 14- #3 Huntingdon 2, #1 Piedmont 1 (8 Inn.) (Piedmont Eliminated) Box Score
Sunday, April 23
Second Day Game Recaps
Game 8- #3 Huntingdon 3, #2 LaGrange 2 (8 innings) Box Score
Game 7- #1 Piedmont 4, #4 Maryville 0 Box Score
Game 10- #2 LaGrange 9, #7 Spelman 2 (Spelman Eliminated) Box Score
Game 9- #4 Maryville 6, #5 Agnes Scott 2 (Agnes Scott Eliminated) Box Score
Game 12- #3 Huntingdon 7, #1 Piedmont 2 Box Score
Game 11- #2 LaGrange 2, #4 Maryville 1 (Maryville Eliminated) Box Score
Saturday, April 22
First Day Game Recaps
11 a.m. Game 2- #4 Maryville 8, #5 Agnes Scott 0 Box Score
1 p.m. Game 3- #3 Huntingdon 4, #6 Wesleyan 0 Box Score
3:30 p.m. Game 4- #2 LaGrange 15, #7 Spelman 1 Box Score
3:30 p.m. Game 1- #1 Piedmont 22, #8 Fisk 0 Box Score
5:30 p.m. Game 5- # 5 Agnes Scott 11, # 8 Fisk 2 (Fisk Eliminated) Box Score
7:30 p.m. Game 6- # 7 Spelman 5, # 6 Wesleyan 1 (Wesleyan Eliminated) Box Score
Tournament Statistics
