For the first time in its 28-year history, the softball team at Union College, the team has been invited to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament. The 23-5 Dutchwomen are seeded second in the East Region and will play Friday afternoon at Cortland, which received the No.1 seed and will host the double elimination event.
This is quite an achievement for this team, said sixth-year head coach Peter Brown, Especially since we are so young.
This is the third Union women's team to qualify for an NCAA tournament this year. Last fall the soccer team made its fourth consecutive trip to the national tournament while the volleyball team received its first invitation.
Joining Union in the six-team field are: No. 1 Cortland (38-6-1), No. 3 Ithaca (28-9), No. 4 William Paterson (27-10-1), No. 5 Elms of Massachusetts (28-5), and No. 6 Kings of Pennsylvania (24-9). Cortland and Union each have a bye for the opening round of the double elimination event.
The Red Dragons will play the winner of the William Paterson-Elm contest at 2 p.m. with the Dutchwomen taking the field at 4 p.m. against the Ithaca-Kings winner. Play continues all day Saturday and Sunday and could stretch into Monday.
The Dutchwomen, who boast a record of 126-70-1 (a winning percentage of .763) under Browns direction, have 11 freshman, four sophomores and just two seniors on their 17-player roster. Not counting the pitching, Brown has six rookies at starting positions with sophomore Melissa Marra (Mechanicville, NY), who did not play last year, sharing the starting duties at first base.
I knew coming into this year we had the potential to be very good, said Brown. But I honestly did not think that we would gel this quickly. I figured that because we had so many freshmen in the starting lineup that we would contend for a New York State or an ECAC postseason invitation and build from there.
The Dutchwomen came together very quickly, especially against their Northeast rivals where the Garnet has posted a stellar 17-1 record since returning from their annual spring break trip to Ft. Meyers, Florida.
I thought we played pretty well in Florida, explained Brown. We had a 6-4 record and, with a little bit better play on defense, could have maybe won two or three more games. Our pitching looked very strong and we were consistent at the plate, but errors turned a couple of games that could have been wins into losses.
Union's pitching has been dominated by a pair of freshman. Abby Arceneaux (Mechanicville, NY) and Jackie Coffey (Boston, MA) have combined to pitch 159 innings while allowing 90 hits, 27 runs (only 14 of which are earned), and 18 walks while striking out 133 batters. Sophomore Randi Maurer (Albany, NY) has started five games for Union and posted an earned run average of 2.90.
Not only are our pitchers athletically gifted, explained Brown, But have a great deal of mental toughness, especially for being so young. The fact that each of them can field their position certainly hasn't hurt us either.
Arceneaux has emerged as the ace of the staff. At 12-2 she has already tied the Union record for wins in a season while her six shutouts are a Dutchwomen standard. Arceneaux, who has been on the mound for 88 innings, has given up 44 hits (only nine extra base hits all doubles), seven earned runs, and 15 walks while striking out 79. Her earned run average is a slender 0.55.
Coffey, meanwhile, has an earned run average of 0.69 and a 9-0 record. In 71 innings she has allowed seven earned runs and 46 hits (including 13 doubles, two triples and a home run) while striking out 54. Coffey has given up just three walks all season long.
The control that Abby and Jackie have is just incredible, said Brown. Both of them can move the ball all over the strike zone, but neither of them is afraid to challenge a hitter if they need to. Both of them are very, very good at getting ahead in the count.
Arceneaux also leads the Dutchwomen in hitting with her .418 average (33 of 79) from the leadoff position. While she has just one extra base hit to her credit, she leads the squad with her .446 on base percentage and is third with her 17 runs scored.
The Dutchwomen's No. 3 and No. 4 positions in the batting order are occupied by freshman Julie Gawronski (Dunkirk, NY) and senior leftfielder Jill Ring (Brewster, MA).
Ring, who bats cleanup, holds several Union batting records including extra base hits (55), doubles (27), triples (16), and home runs (12), and RBIs (88). She is three hits short of surpassing the team standard of 135. Ring s batting average this year is .386 (32 of 83) and her .663 slugging percentage leads the squad. She has driven in 18 runs.
Gawronski's first season has produced a batting average of .391 (34 of 87). She leads the team in home runs (4), RBIs (23), runs scored (19) and is second to Ring with her slugging percentage of .655.
Unions infield has either Arceneaux or Marra at first, freshmen Erika Eisenhut (Mohawk, NY), or sophomore Karyn Rautenberg (Boston, MA) at second, freshman Beth Carcone (Utica, NY) at short, and freshmen Stephanie Rubino (Port Chester, NY) or Cris Pasqua (White Plains) at third.
Ring and Gawronski make up two-thirds of the outfield with senior Erin Lefkowitz (Amherst, NH), freshmen Katey Ratner (Smithtown, NY) and Caitlin DelZotto (Guilderland, NY) sharing the right field.
Sophomore Jessica Lawton (Weare, NH), and freshman Lauren LaFontaine (New Hartford, NY) share in the designated hitter duties with freshman Alicia Gifford (Schenectady, NY) behind the plate.
Tournament Schedule
(all games at Cortland State)
Friday, May 9
- Game 1 William Paterson vs. Elms, 10 a.m.
- Game 2 Ithaca vs. Kings, 12:00
- Game 3 Cortland vs. Game 1 winner, 2:00
- Game 4 UNION vs. Game 2 winner, 4:00
Saturday, May 10
- Game 5 Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4, 10 a.m.
- Game 6 Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 12:00
- Game 7 Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 2:00
- Game 8 Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 4:00
Sunday, May 11
- Game 9--Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7, 12:00
- Game 10--Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 7, 2:00
Monday, May 12
- (if necessary) 10 a.m.: Final game
Sites:
*Indicates host institution
Seed No. 5 - Winner of first round at Cortland, New York.
- *Cortland St. (38-6-1)
- Union (N.Y.) (23-5)
- Ithaca (28-9)
- William Paterson (27-10-1)
- Elms (28-5)
- King's (Pa.) (24-9)
Seed No. 1 - Winner of first round at Tacoma, Washington.
- *Pacific Lutheran (30-1)
- Central (Iowa) (32-4-1)
- East Tex. Baptist (30-11)
- Cal Lutheran (22-18)
- Chapman (29-8)
Seed No. 2 - Winner of first round at Atlanta, Georgia.
- *Emory (33-4)
- Methodist (36-8)
- Mt. St. Joseph (23-16)
- Emory & Henry (21-10)
- Millsaps (26-9)
Seed No. 3 - Winner of first round at New Concord, Ohio.
- *Muskingum (39-3)
- Alma (30-4)
- Bethany (W. Va.) (31-6)
- Wittenberg (24-19)
- Cabrini (33-6)
Seed No. 4 - Winner of first round at Mahwah, New Jersey.
- *Ramapo (30-5)
- Salisbury (37-3-1)
- Moravian (29-8)
- Hunter (22-11-1)
- Muhlenberg (14-19)
- Merchant Marine (16-23)
Seed No. 6 - Winner of first round at Bloomington, Illinois.
- *Ill. Wesleyan (33-6)
- Chicago (21-8)
- Washington (Mo.) (30-7)
- Fontbonne (21-12)
- Wis.-Whitewater (22-16-1)
Seed No. 7 - Winner of first round at Waverly, Iowa.
- Gustavus Adolphus (26-9)
- *Wartburg (30-7)
- Lake Forest (23-11)
- Clarke (26-18)
- Marian (Wis.) (20-16)
Seed No. 8 - Winner of first round at Norton, Massachusetts.
- Tufts (25-11)
- *Wheaton (Mass.) (33-7)
- Endicott (34-3)
- Western New Eng. (28-5)
- Keene St. (25-12)
- Fitchburg St. (19-13)
Ithaca College won the 2002 NCAA Division III Women's Softball Championship by defeating Lake Forest College 1-0 in last year's championship game.
