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Box Score 3 VALHALLA, NY - The NJCAA Region 15 Softball Tournament was held at Westchester Community College on both Friday and Saturday of this past week. This year's tournament included the top four teams from the division, defending champions and #1 seeded Suffolk CC, #2 seeded Nassau, and following a tiebreaker to determine the final two seeds, the #3 seed Dutchess and #4 seed Queensborough.
The Falcons took on the #2 seeded Nassau in game one. Dutchess found themselves out to a 4-1 lead after just one inning of play. Sophomore
Alyjah Cruz was easily working her way through this one until a four run outburst by Nassau gave the Lions a one run lead in the 5th. This ultimately proved to be the difference in the opening slate for DCC as they fell by a final of 5-4. Cruz threw the ball extremely well going six innings, allowing just one earned run, while striking out three. Freshman
Alyssa Pfitscher led the way offensively for the Falcons finising 2-for-4 with two RBI, while
Danielle Kauffman also had a nice game at the dish going 3-for-4.
After dropping the first game of the tournament, the Falcons found themselves down a game and knew they needed to fight their way back into the winner's bracket. In game two, DCC took on number four seeded Queensborough following their opening game loss to Suffolk. Dutchess came out with a sense of urgency in this one and led 7-0 after two innings. That was more than enough support for freshman starter
Alyssa Pfitscher. In only 5 innings of work due to the mercy-rule finish, Pfitscher managed to rack up nine strikeouts while only surrendering two hits in the 8-0 victory for the Falcons. Offensively, a three-run home run from
Carissa Punkosdy was the big blow in this one, as it had Ducthess out and running by the second inning.
Nicole Winglovitz finished 2-for-2 with an RBI and Kauffman drove in a pair of runs as well.
In day two of the tournament, the Falcons found themselves in a rematch against Nassau with the winner moving on to the finals to face defending regional champs, Suffolk. Just like their game against QCC, the Falcons jumped out to an early lead and did not look back. A huge six run 1st inning sparked the 9-1 victory for DCC and advanced them onto the finals. Pfitscher threw another gem in this one, going five innings, allowing just one run on five hits, and striking out three. The freshman also helped herself out at the plate, finishing 3-for-3 with a pair of runs scored. Punkosdy added another three RBI to lead the way offensively as the Falcons tallied 11 hits in the mercy-rule shortened game.
In the finals, Dutchess managed to hang in with Suffolk, who finished an impressive 21-15 record on the year while winning 11 of 12 games within the region. After only trailing 2-1 after four innings of play, single runs in the 5th and 6th by Suffolk sealed the deal in the 4-1 win for the Sharks. The difference in this one came down to defense. Suffolk showed their sure-handedness by not committing a single error in the game, as opposed to Dutchess who had two. Alyssa Pfutscher pitched another solid complete game, allowing four runs but only one of which being earned, three walks, and two strikeouts.
Danielle Kauffman drove in the lone run of the game for DCC and finished 3-for-3 in the final game. Suffolk received a very well-pitched ballgame by Tournament MVP Courtney Lawrence, as she went seven innings, allowing just the one run on five hits, while striking out nine Falcons.
All in all, the Dutchess softball team have a lot to be proud of from their performance on Friday and Saturday. They prove that they can more than hold their own against very strong competition such as Suffolk CC and Nassau CC. On top of that notion, four women from the Falcons received all-tournament recognition for their performances over the course of the two days:
Congratulations to these four women on their recognition, and to the entire Falcons softball team on an outstanding performance in the Region 15 Tournament.
