Corning CC softball team finishes as national runner-up for second straight year
SUNY Corning Community College finished as the second-best NJCAA Division III softball team for the second year in a row Saturday.
Rock Valley Community College, from Illinois, earned its eighth consecutive national title with a 9-2 victory over the Red Barons in the championship game at Carrier Park Field of Dreams in DeWitt.
Corning closed its season with a 40-8 record and lost to Rock Valley in the title game for the second year in a row. The 40 victories topped the program record of 37 set last season, when the Red Barons lost three games.
Rock Valley finished with a 48-11 record.
Earlier in the tournament, Rock Valley was a 3-2 winner over Corning in a winners' bracket game. The Red Barons bounced back with a 20-4 win over Brookdale Community College on Friday night to advance to Saturday afternoon's final, which had a delayed start because of rain.
How Rock Valley won
Corning scored twice in the fifth inning to close within 3-2, but Rock Valley added a run in the bottom of the fifth and five in the sixth to pull away.
Evy Polsfuss was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI for Rock Valley. Kayla Freiberg homered and Madison Carlson went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Jenna Turner and Kelli Riordan both tripled.
Odessa-Montour graduate Grace Vondracek drove in two runs with a single for Corning. Elmira High alumna Lexi Wood doubled for one of CCC's six hits off Rock Valley starter Madison Carlson (17-7).
Carlson went five innings before Hannah Hockerman took over for the final two, striking out four without allowing a hit.
Rock Valley had 16 hits off CCC starter Jayden Hill (18-3), who pitched all six defensive innings for the Red Barons.
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This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Rock Valley's streak of NJCAA titles reached 8 with win over Corning
