Herkimer wins softball elimination game Thursday to advance to second game
SYRACUSE – Madison Prior and Hannah DeRock gave Herkimer College another strong pitching performance Thursday morning and the Generals advanced to play again later in the day the NJCAA’s Division III national tournament.
The Generals, seeded fourth, scored three runs in the first inning and won 4-1 over No. 8 Monroe College-Bronx in the tournament’s first round of elimination games at Carrier Park. The win puts Herkimer back on the field at 2 p.m. against the North Dakota State College of Science.
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Prior, a freshman, pitched the first five innings, striking out five batters and walking four while shutting out the Express (26-16) into the fourth. DeRock, a returnee from last year’s third-place finish, allowed two hits in two scoreless innings.
Herkimer (33-8-1) has allowed one run in each game it has played in Syracuse. The Generals were beaten 1-0 by Brookdale Community College in Wednesday’s opening round. Brookdale was beaten 2-1 later in the day by Rock Valley College, the No. 1 seed and seven-time defending champion.
Monroe lost 10-3 in its opener against Rock Valley. The Express will play for seventh place Friday against the loser of Thursday’s second game between Middlesex Community College and St. Cloud Technical and Community College.
After Prior hit a Monroe batter with a two-out pitch in the scoreless top of the first Thursday, the Generals started the bottom of the inning with hits by Kassandra Granobles and Marissa Correa. Toni Shawnee walked Michaela Ponticelli with two outs to load the bases and Hailey Hunter singled to drive home Herkimer’s first runs of the tournament. An error on the play allowed Ponticelli to score and give the Generals a 3-0 lead.
Madison Puppolo tripled with one out in the second inning and Granobles squeezed her home.
Puppolo pitched the Brookdale game.
The Generals would manage only two more hits against Shawnee who struck out eight batters and walked only the one in the first inning.
Nicole Peralta had the first Monroe hit in the third inning. The Express got a leadoff hit and a stolen base from Zahra Medina in the fourth; Medina advanced on a ground ball and scored on a pinch single by Arlenny Diaz. Prior walked two batters before the inning ended with the bases loaded.
Prior also walked a batter in the fifth inning before DeRock replaced her to start the sixth.
Granobles had two of the six hits for Herkimer. Peralta had two for Monroe.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Herkimer College wins elimination game at NJCAA softball tournament
