SPARKILL, N.Y. - If St. Thomas Aquinas College intends to advance in the NCAA Div. II softball playoffs, they will need to solve the one puzzle that has stumped them so far this season -- Finding a way to beat Molloy College.
The Spartans, 22-10 and seeded third in the East Coast Conference playoffs, will visit second-seeded Molloy College on Friday at 3 p.m. in the first game of their best-of-three semifinal series. The second and third game, if necessary, will be played on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively. The winner will advance to the best-of-three championship series that is scheduled for May 14-15. STAC is seeking its first ECC championship since joining the conference in 2001.
In a season with many, many highlights, Molloy has proven to be STAC’s nemesis. Molloy swept the four regular season games between the two teams by the scores of 3-0, 7-1, 6-3 and 10-8 and carry a 12-game win streak into Friday’s playoff opener.
“This will be a formidable test for our team,” said STAC Head Coach Kristen Sullivan. “Molloy is a quality team that is playing very good softball now. My team has overcome many obstacles this season, so we see this as another challenge to confront. We had a two-week safety pause due to the pandemic that caused us to lose some momentum and squeezed our remaining schedule into a very tight period of time. The adversity has made us a tougher team.”
It would be a mistake for Molloy to look past the Spartans, who have shown glimpses of brilliance during this highly successful season. In the process of compiling a 16-8 conference record, the most regular-season ECC victories in program history, STAC has exhibited excellent pitching, steady defense and timely hitting.
STAC finished the regular season with the best team earned run average in the ECC behind the excellent work of junior Carissa Della Vecchia and senior Paige Toothaker. Della Vecchia logged a 12-5 overall record with a program-record 142 strikeouts in 103 innings while Toothaker was 9-5 overall with a 1.93 earned run average. Both won ECC Pitcher of the Week awards this season.
Missy Sadler, Amanda Castro, Amanda Schweitzer and Della Vecchia lead the offense. Sadler leads the team in hits, runs scored, RBI and stolen bases while compiling a batting average of .321. Castro leads the team with a .378 batting average and an impressive .486 on base percentage. Schweitzer sports a .363 average with a gaudy on-base percentage of .453 while Della Vecchia leads the team in homers (nine). Defensively, shortstop Nikki MacDonald, Sadler (centerfield) and Schweitzer (catcher) have excelled with the gloves.
Molloy is led by two-way star Courtney Greene, who is the team’s top pitcher and one of its leading hitters. In a display of her all-round abilities, she hit a two-run homer and pitched a one-hitter in Molloy’s 3-0 win over STAC earlier this season. Greene is batting .357 with a team-leading five homers while compiling a pitching record of 19-5 with a 1.74 earned run average. Chrissie Huhn, Karsyn Eaton and Grace Rende are other standout players for the Lions. Molloy, 28-12 overall and 18-6 in the ECC, is seeking its fourth ECC title and currently ranked thid in the East Region..
“We are very excited about the opportunity to compete for a conference championship,” said Sullivan. “This week has given us a chance to rest and regroup after a busy second half of the season. We’ll be ready on Friday.”
The ECC playoff champion will earn an automatic bid into the East Region tourney, which is scheduled May 18-23 at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. The winner advances to the NCAA Div. II National Championship tournament in Colorado Springs beginning May 27.