(Weston, Mass.)- Thanks to a dominating pitching performance form Tina DeLuca (Fresh Meadows, N.Y.) top-seeded SUNY Canton rolled over No. 2 Fisher College 13-3 in five innings to advance to the championship game of the Sunrise Conference softball tournament at Regis College in Weston, Mass.
The Roos improved to 12-6 and will face No. 3 University of Maine at Presque Isle in the championship game on Sunday at noon. The Owls beat No. 4 Vermont Technical College in the loser's bracket game 10-0 earlier on Saturday and then beat the Falcons 7-4 later in the day to advance to Sunday.
Tina DeLuca (Fresh Meadows, N.Y.) struck out five of the first nine Fisher batters and got the other four to pop up and only one left the infield. DeLuca allowed just three hits and did not walk a batter in five innings. Other than a two-run home run from Jackie Streeter, DeLuca effectively shut down the Falcons.
In the bottom of the first,
Jenifer Shaw (Helendale, Calif.) reached on one of Fisher's six errors in the game and then scored on an RBI single from
Shelby McGraw (North Lawrence, N.Y.). McGraw and
Carolina Olivares (Adelanto, Calif.) would eventually come around to score off a double from
Colleen Rivers (Bay Shore, N.Y.) and the Roos led 3-0.
SUNY Canton put up three more runs in the second inning and then poured it on with a seven-run fourth inning.
In the fourth the Roos had just one hit, a double from
Heather Lottie (Canton, N.Y.) but they drew three walks and Fisher committed two big errors.
McGraw finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs. Lottie was also 2-for-4 with a run. Olivares had a single and scored twice and Rivers added a single and finished with three RBIs.
Mika Wilson gave up seven hits and four walks with four strikeouts for Fisher. Brittany Calderon and Libby Whitcomb each had a single.