Sparkill, N.Y. - After an 11-year drought from 2007-2018, the East Coast Conference softball playoffs are now very familiar territory for St. Thomas Aquinas College.
For the fourth straight season, STAC qualified for the ECC post-season tournament after finishing the regular season as the conference's co-champs with a 15-5 record and overall mark of 28-16.
"It's a great source of pride for our program to earn the right to compete in the conference playoffs," said STAC Head Coach Kristen Sullivan. "I'm pleased with the high level of consistency that we've been able to attain over the last four seasons. Earning a post-season bid is always one of our primary team goals."
By virtue of a tiebreaker system, the Spartans received the No. 2 seed and Molloy was awarded the top seed in the four-team, double-elimination tourney. In Wednesday's first-round games, STAC will host third-seeded Mercy College (15-29) at 3:30 p.m. while Molloy (29-19) will host fourth-seeded Queens College (10-32). The tournament will continue Friday and Saturday at Molloy's home field located at the Rockville Centre Sports Complex.
STAC is seeking its first conference championship since joining the NCAA in 2001.
"We start four freshmen in most games so this is one of my youngest teams that I've ever had here," said Sullivan. "We've learned a lot together during the regular season and I'm pleased with the way we've improved over time."
One of the trademarks of Sullivan's teams over the last four seasons has been outstanding pitching and this year was more of the same. Carissa Della Vecchia and Abbie Landrum formed the best one-two combination in the conference. Della Vecchia, a lefty, registered an impressive 16-3 record with an earned run average of 1.37. Her 199 strikeouts in 133 innings rank her fifth among 600 pitchers in the NCAA Division II circuit in strikeouts per seven innings. Landrum finished 10-9 with an excellent 1.97 earned run average.
Freshmen Adriana Coira (shortstop), Elyse Marcano (second base) and Eliana Raposo (centerfield) provided steady defensive support along with junior Tara Hagan (first base). Senior Emilie Olivier was one of the best defensive catchers in the conference.
A very balanced attack has fueled STAC's offense. Landrum (.320) and Marcano (.310) led the team in batting average while Raposo and Coira were the team leaders in hits. Olivier and Raposo both hit four homers to provide extra-base power with freshman DeAnna DeCaro adding two homers and 18 RBIs, which was fourth on the team.
The ECC playoff champion will earn an automatic bid into the East Region tourney, which is scheduled May 11-13. The winner advances to the Super Regional on May 18-19. NCAA Division II National Championship tournament in Chattanooga, Tennesee begins May 25.
2023 EAST COAST CONFERENCE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
For More Information, visit the ECC Softball Championship Central
PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
Wednesday, May 3 at highest seeds
Game One: No. 4 Queens at. No. 1 Molloy – 3:00 p.m.
Game Two: No. 3 Mercy vs. No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas – 3:30 p.m.
Friday, May 5 at Molloy
Game Three: Game One winner vs. Game Two winner - 10:00 a.m.
Game Four: Game One loser vs. Game Two loser - 12:30 p.m.
Game Five: Game Three loser vs. Game Four winner - 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 6 at Molloy
Game Six: Game Three winner vs. Game Five winner -12:00 p.m.
Game Seven: if necessary - 30 minutes after completion of Game Six
TICKET PRICING
Single Game Ticket
$8 - General Admission
$5 - Students with ID, Senior Citizens, Children Ages 5-12
Weekend Passes
$20 - Adults
* Children under 5 free for all games
** Tickets must be purchased at the link above. Cash will not be accepted so walkup tickets at the venue must be purchased through the ECC website (QR code will be available at the gate).
BROADCAST/LIVE STATISTICS INFORMATION
For those who cannot be in attendance, Wednesday's Game will be broadcast LIVE on both the Spartan Sports Network and the ECC Network. The team of Tom Scavetta and Amine Kassaoui will bring you all of the action from Spartan Field.
All games during the ECC championship will be broadcast live on the ECC Network website and the ECC Network app on Apple and Android mobile devices and on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku streaming devices.
Live Statistics will also be available for fans to follow all of the game action, if you cannot make it to Spartan Field or watch the web stream.