TC3 Softball Perfect on Day One at Nationals
May 18, 2012
Rogers Set Strikeout Record as TC3 Wins Two
DRYDEN, N.Y. – The Tompkins Cortland Community College softball team enjoyed a perfect opening day at the NJCAA Division III National Championship tournament Thursday, beating Itasca Community College (Minn.), 4-2, in the opening game and then Ridgewater Community College (Minn.), 7-1, in the second round. TC3 advances to take on Gloucester County College (N.J.), the only other remaining undefeated team in the tournament, Friday at 5 p.m.
In the Itasca game, the Panthers were the first to score, plating a run in the third thanks to an Itasca error. After TC3 pitcher Mackenzie Sherlock (Paul V. Moore H.S./Central Square) worked around a leadoff triple in the bottom of the inning without allowing a run, TC3 tacked on two more runs in the fourth, again helped by an error. Kristan Baker (Dallas H.S./Dallas, Penn.) started the rally with a single, followed by Karrie Snyder (Newfield H.S./Newfield) reaching on an error that moved Baker to third. Snyder followed by stealing second base, and when the catcher's throw got away, Baker came in to score. Katie Huston (Chenango Valley H.S./Binghamton) followed with a double, scoring Snyder to make it 3-0.
In the fifth, Itasca cut into the lead with a pair of unearned runs, but Sherlock again came up big. With TC3 holding onto a 3-2 lead and Itasca having two runners in scoring position, Sherlock struck out the #3 hitter to end the inning. The Panthers added an insurance run in the sixth when Baker ripped a double, Samijo Scheer (Corning East H.S./Corning) singled her to third, and Huston drove her in with a sacrifice fly. Sherlock made the lead stand, not allowing another Itasca runner past first base the rest of the game.
Huston went 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI and Baker went 2-for-3 with a double. Sherlock earned the win, striking out four while allowing just four hits and no earned runs.
Against Ridgewater, Emilie Rogers (Elmira Free Academy/Elmira) was the story. After issuing a walk that led to an unearned run in the first, she dominated the rest of the way. She finished the game with a new TC3 record with 17 strikeouts while scattering four hits. Offensively, after a Baker RBI double in the first, the Panthers opened up in the second inning. Back-to-back singles by Huston and Chelsea Houtenbrink (Waterloo H.S./Waterloo) set the plate, and Tayler Fravel (Sandy Creek H.S./Sandy Creek) cleaned up, drilling a three-run homer to make it 4-1. After an error, Baker delivered her second RBI double in the same number of innings, making it 5-1. The Panthers tacked on two more in the sixth, with Katie Ducharme (C.W. Baker H.S./Syracuse) driving in a run before Baker hit her third RBI double of the game to end the scoring at 7-1.
Baker and Houtenbrink each had three hits to pace the ten-hit attack. Fravel crossed the plate two times, giving her 60 runs scored this year, a new TC3 record. Ducharme and Houtenbrink also scored twice in the win.
TC3 is now 35-3 on the year.
