Box Score
Freshman
Brielle Reighn (Runnemeade, NJ/Triton Regional) hit a walk-off, three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 4-2 victory over Georgian Court University, giving the Caldwell College softball team the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference championship Saturday afternoon at the GCU Softball Complex. The CACC title is the Cougars' fifth all-time and the first since 2008. Reighn was named the CACC Tournament's Most Valuable Player.
The conference championship also gives Caldwell (43-10) the CACC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division II East Regional. The Cougars, who were ranked second in the latest East Region rankings, will find out the site of the tournament and their opponent on Monday, May 6 from the NCAA Selection Show.
Georgian Court (31-27) took a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly by Taylor McDonough in the top of the first. Caldwell answered in the bottom of the second, when sophomore
Megan Fryday (San Marcos, CA/Mission Hills) hit a sacrifice fly that plated junior
Nicole Velardi (Belleville, NJ/Belleville) to tie the score at 1-1. McDonough came through for the Lions again in the third, hitting a two-out single that brought home Alyssa Paradiso for a 2-1 lead.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the seventh. Sophomore
Kristen Knorr (Monroeville, NJ/Delsea) led off with a single up the middle. Freshman
Caitlin McCready (Jupiter, FL/Dwyer) followed with a bunt single. A passed ball allowed Knorr and McCready to advance to second and third with nobody out, setting the stage for Reighn, who had two hits earlier in the game. Reighn launched a 2-1 pitch over the fence in center field, giving the game and the championship to the Cougars.
Senior
Kourtney Wilson (Islip, NY/St. Anthony) pitched another strong game, holding the Lions to two runs on 10 hits to improve to 20-4. She is just the third Caldwell pitcher to win 20 games in a season, joining All-American
Corinne Reiser (2004) and current assistant coach
Brittany Pulido, who won 20 games in both 2010 and 2011. Reighn went 3-for-4 and sophomore
Alyssa Calderon (Fontana, CA/Etiwanda) went 2-for-3 at the plate.
This is the fifth CACC softball championship for Caldwell, who won in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008 under head coach
Dean Johnson. Georgian Court had eliminated the Cougars at the CACC Tournament in each of the past four years, including the 2009 final.
Reighn was 10-for-14 (.714) with four runs, two doubles, a homer and four runs batted in through four victories at the CACC Tournament. She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Velardi, Knorr, senior
Dia Cascone (Staten Island, NY/Susan Wagner) and freshman
Amber Padilla (Chino, CA/Pomona Catholic).
The NCAA Division II Softball Selection Show is available online at
www.ncaa.com, beginning at 10:30 a.m.
2013 CACC Softball Tournament - Hosted by Georgian Court, Lakewood, N.J.
Thursday, May 2
Game 1 - #1 Dominican 9, #8 Philadelphia 5
Game 2 -
#2 Caldwell 11 #7 Bloomfield 3 (6 innings)
Game 3 - #3 Wilmington 10, #6 Holy Family 2 (6 innings)
Game 4 - #4 Georgian Court 5, #5 USciences 0
Game 5 –#5 USciences 4, #8 Philadelphia 3
Game 6 – #7 Bloomfield 9, #6 Holy Family 4
Game 7 – #1 Dominican 8, #4 Georgian Court 7
Game 8 –
#2 Caldwell 1, #3 Wilmington 0
Friday, May 3
Game 9 –#3 Wilmington 1, #5 USciences 0 (9 innings)
Game 10 –#4 Georgian Court 5, #7 Bloomfield 1
Game 11 –
#2 Caldwell 5, #1 Dominican 3
Game 12 – #4 Georgian Court 7, #3 Wilmington 0
Game 13 – #4 Georgian Court 7, #1 Dominican 1
Saturday, May 4
Game 14 –
#2 Caldwell 4, #4 Georgian Court 2
