Late baseball legend Yogi Berra, in his peculiar way, once observed, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”
The Pennsylvania College of Technology softball team found that to be true on Monday when it was invited to compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Championships less than a week after its season seemingly ended in the United East quarterfinals.
“Selection criteria is you must have a won-loss record of .500 or better, and then your winning percentage, head-to-head results of other declared teams and strength of schedule come into play for team championship criteria,” coach Angela Stackhouse said before the announcement.
With a 29-10 record, including the UE regular-season championship and third-place playoff finish, it easily met those requirements and earned the top seed and a first-round bye.
“We’re very excited to be given that kind of respect (as the top seed) and we look forward to extending our season another week,” Stackhouse said. “The players are excited, especially those seniors who would love the opportunity to put that jersey on for a couple of more days.
“I’m mostly excited, though, for our underclassmen to give them that championship culture, a little bit of experience that is going to help us out in the future.”
Since its last game a week ago, players had the rest of the week and Mother’s Day off before the full roster returned to practice on Monday. Practices are scheduled for the rest of the week leading to the team’s tournament opener.
Also in the field are host and second-seed Marywood University (26-16 and the Atlantic East Conference runner-up) and third-seed St. Elizabeth University (26-12 and the Colonial States Athletic Conference champion).
Play gets underway at 10 a.m. Friday, with Marywood and St. Elizabeth squaring off, and continuing at 1:30 p.m. Friday with Penn College awaiting the winner of the first game. The Game 1 and Game 2 losers will clash in an elimination game at 4 p.m. Friday.
The championship tilt is slated for noon Saturday, with an “if needed” game following at 2:30 on Saturday.
One common opponent for all three teams has been Cedar Crest College. During its Spring Break trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Penn College defeated Cedar Crest, 9-2. Marywood topped Cedar Crest twice this season, by scores of 10-2 in five innings and 10-7, while St. Elizabeth split against Cedar Crest, winning 8-0 and 5-3 and losing 9-7.
Another common foe for Penn College and Marywood was Elmira College. The Wildcats split, losing 2-1 and winning 1-0; while Marywood lost twice, 7-5 and 15-14.
Penn College comes into the tournament with a .340 team batting average (its opponents are hitting .207), a pitching staff ERA of 1.79 (its opponents 5.10) and a team fielding percentage of .964 (its opponents .925).
Marywood has a .321 team batting average (its opponents .287), a pitching staff ERA of 3.72 (its opponents .494) and a fielding percentage of .955 (its opponents .941).
St. Elizabeth has a .308 team batting average (its opponents .251), a pitching staff ERA of 2.62 (its opponents 5.24) and a fielding percentage of .941 (its opponents .945).
Jordan Specht, of Frederick, Maryland, leads the Wildcats with a .467 batting average, a team-high five home runs and a team-best 44 RBIs; while Maddie Hurst, of Mechanicsburg, is hitting .438, has scored a team-high 48 runs and has been successful on 45 of 48 stolen base attempts.
Mackenzie Weaver, of Montoursville, the UE Pitcher of the Year who went the distance in all three UE playoff games, owns a 16-6 record with two saves and a 0.94 ERA with 140 strikeouts and 33 walks.
Marywood’s offense is led by Abbey Stalter, who owns a .403 batting average, and it has six other batters hitting .300 or better. Marissa Gregory, the Atlantic East Rookie of the Year, tops the Pacers’ pitching staff with a 2.62 ERA, 14-3 record with one save, 94 strikeouts and 22 walks.
Kami DeGaetani is a dual threat for St. Elizabeth as she leads the Eagles with a .432 batting average and owns a 1.86 pitching ERA, an 8-6 record and 49 strikeouts and 13 walks. Kaitlynne McCarthy also is among the team’s top hitters and has a 16-5 pitching record with one save, 3.22 ERA 109 strikeouts and 55 walks.
“I think we’re going to match up best with Marywood. I think they could be comparable to a Penn State Harrisburg in our conference. We’re looking forward to going head-to-head with them and giving each other a great game,” Stackhouse said.
“Our plan is to win Game 1 and then do our best in the championship game on (Saturday),” Stackhouse said.
“I feel really good about it. I think we have a very good opportunity to make a good run at this championship, so that’s our game plan. Regardless, we get to enjoy this game for another week, put our uniforms on again, and that’s what we’re looking forward to the most,” the coach said.
Giving a shoutout to her seniors – Specht, Maddie Hurst, of Mechanicsburg; Skyelar Splain, of Liverpool; Jaylynn Cochran, of Cogan Station; Alyssa Rusnock, of Ovid, New York; and Kyla Benner, of Bethlehem – Stackhouse said, “The senior class that we are graduating, they’ve been on the field for us their entire career. I’m looking forward to giving them an opportunity to showcase their skills one last time, and hopefully, we can send them off the right way.”
SCHEDULES/RECORDS
Softball
Overall: 29-10
Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference
Division III Championship
(All games at Marywood University, Scranton)
Friday, May 19 – St. Elizabeth University (26-12) vs. Marywood University (26-16), 10 a.m.
Friday, May 19 – Penn College (29-10) vs. Game 1 winner, 1:30 p.m.
Friday, May 19 – Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 20 – Championship (Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner), noon
Saturday, May 20 – If needed game, 2:30 p.m.
For more about the United East, visit the conference website .
For additional information, visit the Wildcats Athletics website .
No. 40-A