MONTCLAIR, N.J. - Junior
All-American Kelly Waskewicz started the game off
on the right foot for No. 11 Salisbury University against No. 17
Coe College on Friday evening in the 2009 NCAA Division III
Softball Championship hosted by Montclair State University.
Waskewicz singled through the left-side of the Coe infield and
eventually got to third base with only one out. SU stranded
Waskewicz at third base in its best opportunity to score a run off
Coe starting pitcher Ashlee Simon.
The Kohawks (39-11) scored the game's only run in the fifth
inning on a RBI-double by senior first baseman Amy Hanse that
scored junior Chelsea Zaugg.
The 1-0 lead would be all Simon (24-4) needed as the freshman
pitched a complete game shutout against the Sea Gulls. SU only had
two hits off Simon, Waskewicz in the first and senior second
baseman Stacey Malarkey's single in the seventh
inning. Simon struck out seven batters in the win.
"She pitched a great game, no question. She was able to get our
batters to keep fishing at her high pitches," said SU coach
Margie Knight. "We were telling them to lay off of
those but I guess they looked extremely tempting. We had a ton of
pop-ups and I think that's what really hurt us, not being able to
put the ball in play where they had to make some plays."
Sophomore pitcher Kelsey Mills (18-3) suffered
the tough one-run loss as she pitched six innings where she allowed
one run on seven hits, walked two and struck out two.
Salisbury is making its first appearance in the NCAA Softball
Championship since 2005 and sixth overall in program history.
The Sea Gulls will have to battle through elimination games the
rest of the way to keep their national championship dreams alive.
Last week, the Gulls won five straight games after they lost the
first game of the Salisbury, Md. First-Round Tournament.
"We had a pretty tough loss, 3-0 to Neumann, facing a similar
pitcher [May 7, NCAA First Round, ending Salisbury's 30-game
winning streak]....and we were able to regroup. Will we be able to
do that tomorrow? I guess tomorrow will be the test," said Knight.
SU will next face No. 10 SUNY Cortland tomorrow (Saturday, May
16) at 1:30 p.m. The Red Dragons lost 3-1 to No. 7 Tufts University
on Friday afternoon. Salisbury and Cortland last met in the
national championship round in 2003 as SU won 1-0.
"We better come around tomorrow because we will face another
really outstanding pitcher. I think when you get here, all eight
teams are seasoned, all eight teams are very good, all eight teams
have been road tested and have been warriors to get out of the
regions they were in," said Knight.
2009 NCAA Division III Softball Championship
