TROY, NY -- Freshman third baseman Ashley Kovack (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield) singled to right field, scoring pinch runner Lucia Reed (Braintree, MA/Braintree) from third with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to lift Union to a 4-3 win over Alfred and the 2007 ECAC Division III Upstate Softball Championship. The Dutchwomen (28-9) went 3-0 in the tourney at RPI's Robison Field, and Megan Kaknis (New Windsor, NY/NFA) was named the ECAC Upstate Most Valuable Player.
The bottom of the eighth began with the "speed up" rule for the extra innings placing Kaknis at second (she was the final batter of the seventh inning). Reed pinch ran for Kaknis, then catcher Catherine Kielb (Rensselaer, NY/Columbia) bunted the runner to third. After a pop foul to third for the second out, Kovack singled off the glove and over the head of the right fielder to score Reed with the winning run.
Freshman pitcher Ginny Sack (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills) got the win in relief to end her freshman season with a 12-2 record. Sack, who shutout the Saxons Saturday, 4-0, got the final out to end a two-run inning with the bases loaded in the Alfred fourth. She pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed one run, three hits and struck out one.
Union took a 1-0 lead in the second. With two out and the bases loaded, sophomore outfielder Kaitlin Graham (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) singled to the left side to score Kielb. In the third, after Michelle Rogers (Clarence, NY/Clarence) led off the inning reaching on a hit by pitch, Kaknis lined her 15th homer of the season over left center to make it 3-0.
Alfred scored twice in the fourth. With one out, Karen Folts doubled to right center. Jessica LeBarron walked, then Jessica Figallo singled to left to load the bases. Ilana Price hit a grounder to short and LeBarron was called out for interference, setting up Messura's two-run single. The Saxons tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the seventh. Amanda Knight reached on a hit by pitch, then was bunted over before going to third on a single by LeBarron. Figallo was walked and Price hit an infield fly near second that dropped, but she was ruled out and the runners advanced as Knight tied the game in from third. Union had eight hits in the victory.
This was Head Coach Pete Brown's first ECAC Championship in his 10 seasons as coach.
Kaknis ended the season with 17 career homers in just two seasons, one shy of the career record, and 63 hits, two shy of the single season record. Kaknis had a hit in 13 of her final four games while Rogers, who singled in the first, ended the year with a hit in 19 of her final 20 games. Kaknis also moved into a tie for third in career RBIs with 85.
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