(Canton, N.Y.)- The SUNY Canton softball team will take a potent offense to Charleston, West Virginia this week as they take on 13th-ranked William Carey University in an NAIA qualifier.
The Roos and Crusaders will play a best two-out-of-three series at Old Watt Powell Park starting on May 6 at 1 p.m. for a berth in the national tournament May 20-26 in Decatur, Ala. Game two will be a half-hour after the conclusion of the first game and if necessary a third game will be played on May 7 at noon.
SUNY Canton (13-6), who won both the Sunrise Conference regular and tournament championships, currently leads the nation in runs per game (10.6), hits per game (12.9), RBIs per game (8.8) and doubles per game (2.4). As a team they are batting .408, the second highest team average in the country.
Junior shortstop
Carolina Olivares (Adelanto, Calif.) leads the nation in batting with a .529 average. She and freshman second baseman
Heather Lottie (Canton, N.Y.) are tied at the top with 1.9 hits per game. Olivares is also fifth in RBIs per game (1.4) and sixth in runs per game (1.3).
Lottie, freshman first baseman
Shelby McGraw (North Lawrence, N.Y.) and junior centerfielder
Jenifer Shaw (Helendale, Calif.) rank 1-2-3 in runs per game. Lottie is scoring 1.7, McGraw 1.6 and Shaw 1.5.
Shaw and freshman catcher
Colleen Rivers (Bay Shore, N.Y.) are both tied for fourth with 1.6 hits per game.
Freshman pitcher
Tina DeLuca (Fresh Meadows, N.Y.) the Sunrise Conference Rookie of the Year, is tied for 15th in the country with 10 walks allowed. She led the conference with 11 wins and a 3.75 earned-run average and held opponents to a conference-best .312 average. She was also third in the conference in innings pitched (100.2), strikeouts (46) and hits allowed (129).
DeLuca, Olivares, Shaw, Lottie, and freshman third baseman
Vickie Lynch (Howard Beach, N.Y.) were all named to the all-conference team.
William Carey won the Gulf Coast Conference championship for the second year in a row defeating No. 5 Bellhaven 2-0 in the championship game.
The Crusaders (38-13) are led by Judy Barber who is batting .448. The junior catcher and infielder was tied for third in the country in RBIs (77), fourth in doubles (21) and seventh in home runs (17) and slugging percentage (.914).
Junior infielder Jeana Erickson batted .399 with 48 runs, 36 RBIs, 13 doubles and eight home runs.
William Carey has five pitches that have thrown at least 50 innings this year and collectively have a 1.67 earned-run average. Alyssa Boutwell leads the way with a 1.33 earned-run average. Anna Ard is 24th in opponent’s average (.177) and Kelsey Jo Smith is tied for third with just five walks allowed.