ST. CLOUD TECH RALLIES LATE TO BEAT MIDDLESEX AY DAY 2 OF SOFTBALL NATIONALS
Middlesex College carried a 6-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth, but St. Cloud Tech rallied for seven runs in the final two turns at bat to deal the Colts a tough 8-6 loss in Day 2 of the NJCAA Division III National Tournament in Syracuse, New York.
Middlesex had lost their opener yesterday to #3 seed North Dakota School of Science on Day 1.
The Colts (23-9) came out swinging against St. Cloud Tech (38-5) jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first.
With two outs, Jennah Schiraldo (Sophomore/Carteret, NJ) singled and Olivia Tirso (Freshman/Elizabeth, NJ) and Kaitlynne McCarthy (Sophomore/Port Reading, NJ) followed with back-to-back RBI doubles to make it 2-0.
Tirso extended the Colts lead to 3-0 in the third when she singled home Chloe Oblepias (Sophomore/Carteret, NJ) and Middlesex tacked on two more runs in the fourth with some perfectly executed small ball.
Katelyn Herman (Sophomore/Fords, NJ) led off the inning with a single and Destiny Gonzalez (Freshman/Sayreville, NJ) beat out a bunt to put runners on first and second with no outs. Hannah Cotayo (Freshman/Carteret, NJ) laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runners up, giving the Colts second and third with one out.
Abigail Jason (Sophomore/Edison, NJ) and Oblepias each drove home runs to 5-0.
St. Cloud finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, but Middlesex got the run right back in the top of the fifth when Tirso led off with a double and came in to score on a double by Julie Davis (Sophomore/South Plainfield, NJ) to make the score 6-1.
McCarthy had been cruising in the circle to that point, but St. Cloud's bats came alive in the fifth when they scored four runs to get to within 6-5. The Cyclones scored the decisive runs in the bottom of the sixth when they plated three runs to take an 8-6 lead.
Middlesex had 11 hits in the game, led by Tirso who went 3-4 with two doubles, two runs and two RBIs. Herman went 2-4 with a run scored and Jason walked, drove in a run and stole a base. Middlesex did not make an error in the game, playing flawless defense behind McCarthy who had her typical gutty performance in the circle.
The Colts will be back in action in the 7/8 game tomorrow when they are scheduled to take on Monroe CC from The Bronx tomorrow at noon in the final game of their historic 2022 season.