Sports News: Spring 2011

Thursday, May 5, 2011

GREYHOUND SOFTBALL SQUAD PREPARES FOR ITS 17TH STRAIGHT POSTSEASON APPEARANCE &
TO HOST 2011 LANDMARK CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

BETHLEHEM, PA --- The Moravian College softball team will be heading to the postseason for the 17th consecutive season as the Greyhounds have the top seed for the 2011 Landmark Conference Tournament being hosted by Moravian in Bethlehem this weekend.

The tournament begins on Friday, May 6th with Moravian playing fourth The University of Scranton at 11:00 a.m.  Second seeded Susquehanna University will battle third seed The Catholic University of America at 1:00 p.m. and the winners of the first two games will play at 3:00 p.m. Friday, with the winner of that game earning a berth in the championship game at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.  The losers of Friday’s first two games will open Saturday’s action at 9:00 a.m.  Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for seniors while children under 10 and all Landmark Conference students with ID are free.  For more information on the tournament, visit http://www.moravian.edu/athletics/softball/11/11Landmark/index.htm.

The Greyhounds, who are the three-time defending Landmark Conference Champions, under the direction of 18-year head coach John Byrne, who as a career mark of 576-179, have posted a 32-6 overall record this spring, the 18th consecutive season that Moravian has won at least 23 games, and an 11-1 mark in Landmark Conference action.  The Greyhounds, which have won over 30 games 13 times under Byrne including the last 11 years, are in the conference tournament for the 12th straight year and the 16th time in 17 years.  Moravian has also been in the NCAA Tournament 12 of the last 13 years including regional championships and berths in the 2007 and 2010 NCAA Division III World Series and a national runner-up finish at the 2004 Division III World Series.

Moravian, which was ranked fourth in the East Region in the final NCAA Division III Regional Rankings released Wednesday and 23rd in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III Top 25 Poll, is hitting .334 with 383 hits including 89 extra-base hits.  Moravian has out-scored its opponents, 259-75, and the Greyhounds have a .962 fielding percentage this season.  Moravian has lost a trio of one-run games this season and another two by a pair of runs, and the Greyhounds have posted 16 shutouts in 32 wins.

Leading Moravian at the plate is sophomore third baseman Shannen Mohr (Slatington, PA/Parkland HS), who has a .463 average, 37 hits, 26 runs, eight doubles, two homers, 21 walks and 25 RBIs.  Freshman catcher Cassie Ernst (Annville, PA/Annville-Cleona HS) has a .419 average with 26 hits, 24 runs, five doubles, a home run, 12 walks, six hit by pitch and 15 RBIs while senior outfielder Amanda Paulus (Easton, PA/Easton HS) has contributed a .373 average, 28 hits, 25 runs, six doubles, a triple, six homers and 23 RBIs.  Freshman catcher/designated player Taylor Mihalik (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) is hitting .353 with 30 hits, 22 runs, six doubles, four triples, a homer and 15 RBIs while junior pitcher/designated player Jenna Carmon (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central HS) has a .367 average with 29 hits, 20 runs, eight doubles, two homers, ten walks and 26 RBIs.

Freshman outfielder Miranda Sergas (Lansdale, PA/North Penn HS) has a .346 average, 27 hits, 23 runs, five doubles, two homers and 15 RBIs while sophomore first baseman Amanda Dizinno (Budd Lake, NJ/Mount Olive HS) has a .304 average to go with 24 hits, 13 runs, two doubles and 16 RBIs.  Senior second baseman Stephanie Falzarano (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield HS) is hitting .325 to go with 37 hits, 23 runs, ten doubles, a triple and 25 RBIs while sophomore outfielder Brook Kowal (Port Jervis, NY/Port Jervis HS) has 13 hits, 10 runs, three doubles, a home run and 10 RBIs. 

Junior outfielder Olivia Evanko (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth HS) has 10 hits, 16 runs and two RBIs while senior infielder/outfielder Maura Agnew (Doylestown, PA/Lansdale Catholic HS) has 12 hits, 12 runs, three doubles, a homer and eight RBIs.  Freshman outfielder Melissa Cottone (Laurys Station, PA/Parkland HS) has 11 hits, two runs, three doubles and nine RBIs while freshman infielder Eavan Matz (Port Jervis, NY/Delaware Valley HS has eight hits, six runs, a triple and five RBIs. 

Sophomore infielder Rebekah Battersby (Dingmans Ferry, PA/Delaware Valley HS) has contributed five hits, five runs, two doubles and three RBIs while freshman outfielder Alycia Sabol (Plymouth Meeting, PA/Plymouth Whitemarsh HS) has five hits, three runs, a double and four RBIs.  Freshman infielder Rachel DeLucia (Audubon, PA/Methacton HS) also has five hits to go with five runs and an RBI while freshman pitcher Elizabeth Tillou (Hackettstown, NJ/Hackettstown HS) has four hits, five runs and two RBIs. 

Sophomore pitcher Alyssa Fegely (Mertztown, PA/Brandywine Heights HS) has six hits, three runs, a double and five RBIs while sophomore outfielder Samantha Mulderig (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township HS) has contributed five hits, seven runs and an RBI.  Sophomore catcher Tori Thomas (Poughkeepsie, NY/Roy C. Ketchum HS) has four hits, two runs and a double while freshman infielder Leann Ventriglia (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North HS) has three hits, four runs and four RBIs.  Senior pitcher Elizabeth Python (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman HS) has four hits, three runs, a double, a triple and five RBIs. 

In the circle, Carmon is 11-3 with two saves, a 1.26 ERA, five shutouts, a no-hitter of then nationally-ranked The College of New Jersey, 21 walks and 67 strikeouts in 105.1 innings of action.  Python, this week's Landmark Conference Pitcher of the Week, has a 12-0 record this season with a 0.71 ERA, five shutouts, 17 walks and 78 strikeouts in 69.1 innings of work while Fegely is 8-3 with a 2.98 ERA, four shutouts, 19 walks and 50 strikeouts in 61 innings of action.  Tillou has a 1-0 record with three walks and three strikeouts in six innings of action while Sabol has a walk and three strikeouts in one inning.