SMITHFIELD, R.I. -Tournament Most Valuable Player Emma Murphy (East Syracuse, N.Y./East Syracuse-Minoa) doubled in a run and sophomore Sarah Reed (DeWitt, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) won her third game of the tournament as seventh-seeded Le Moyne upset top-seeded LIU-C.W. Post 5-4 in the final game of the NCAA Division II Northeast Softball Regional at Bryant University. The Dolphins (32-19) advance to the eight-team NCAA Division II Championship for the fourth time in the last five seasons and for the second straight year. No. 13 C.W. Post concludes its season at 44-11.
Le Moyne was determined the champion of the eight-team regional because after five days of action at the rain-shortened tournament, the Dolphins were the only remaining team without a loss. Murphy went 5-for-9 with three home runs, six runs batted in and five runs scored to garner tournament MVP honors. Reed, 3-0 in the tournament, was joined on the all-tournament team by freshman Caitlin O'Neill (Pittsford, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy) and junior outfielder Lindsay Spaziani (Horseheads, N.Y./Horseheads).
Le Moyne knocked off three teams from the NYCAC. The Dolphins topped second seeded Adelphi 3-1 on Thursday and finished off a 10-1 win over Queens on Saturday. Sunday's action was washed out - setting up Monday's winner-take-all winner's bracket game.
"This one is as satisfying as any of the others because of what we've been through this season," head coach Ken King said. "This is a team that has climbed many mountains and is peaking at the right time. Everybody was in the same boat and we knew that playing the game was the only way we were going to advance."
Reed, 3-0 in this season's tournament, struck out five and walked four for the complete game win. She went 6-0 in last season's regional and is 9-0 in NCAA Northeast Regional action over the past two seasons. Seven different players combined for Le Moyne's seven hits.
After falling behind 2-0, the Dolphins rallied for three runs in the fifth inning and tacked on two more in the sixth. Murphy, O'Neill, Spaziani, Ashley Anderson (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) and Lyndsey Balinskas (Edison, N.J./Edison) knocked in runs for the Dolphins.
Le Moyne (32-19) will meet South region champion Florida Southern on Thursday at noon in the first game of the NCAA Division II Softball Championship in Salem, Virginia.
All-Tournament Team
P - Danielle Stallone, CW Post
P - Sarah Reed, Le Moyne
C - Jill Fisher, CW Post
INF - Emma Murphy, Le Moyne
INF - Amy Delmore, Adelphi
INF - Caitlin O'Neill, Le Moyne
INF - Megan Correia, CW Post
OF - Nikki Cote, Southern NH
OF - Vikki Guido, UMass Lowell
OF - Laurie Tanguay, UMass Lowell
DP - Ashley Bernstein, Southern NH
At Large - Carla Buonviaggio, Adelphi
At Large - Lindsay Spaziani, Le Moyne
MVP - Emma Murphy, Le Moyne
