The Albertus Magnus softball team fell to Johnson & Wales (R.I.) in back-to-back games as the Wildcats captured its first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament Championship title. JWU won game one 6-0 then edged the Falcons 4-3 in game two.
The Wildcats defeated Saint Joseph's College of Maine 4-2 in the first contest of the day before picking up the two wins over the Falcons to win the title.
The Wildcats improved to 21-14 on the year with the win, while the Falcons fell to 24-13.
In the championship game, Albertus opened the contest with an early 2-0 lead before the Wildcats' cut the deficit to one when Alex Fantasia scored on a wild pitch. In the sixth inning, Kristen Solari singled to open the inning and later scored on a throwing error to tie the game at two.
The Wildcats later loaded the bases and forced a four-pitch walk to score the go-ahead run. Another run for the Wildcats came on a sacrifice fly as JWU took a 4-2 lead.
Albertus scored its third run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning when Amanda Jessey (East Haven, Conn.) doubled to left center and later scored on a double by freshman Gillian Fortier (Naugatuck, Conn.). Despite a leadoff single by Melissa Castillo (Taftville, Conn.) in the seventh inning, the Wildcats were able to halt the Falcons' last-inning rally.
Albertus' runs were scored on an RBI single from Alyssa Puccilli (Milford, Conn.) and a sacrifice fly by Brittney Urciuoli (Newington, Conn.).
JWU's Noelle Weiss improved to 3-3 on the year with the victory as she allowed one run on six hits. She went 4.1 innings for the Wildcats in relief.
Shyleen Ortiz (New Britain, Conn.) picked up the loss as she gave up four runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings.
Castillo and Fortier led the Falcons with three hits apiece in the contest.
In the first game of the day for the Falcons, Jennifer Corona threw a two-hit shutout en route to JWU's 6-0 win over the Falcons. The game was held scoreless during the first five innings of play. The Wildcats scored the first run of the day on a throwing error. JWU scored five runs in the sixth inning with two outs.
Corona picked up her 16th win of the year as she struck out three batters in a complete game for JWU. Albertus freshman Megan Ferraro (Branford, Conn.) fell to 8-5 on the year as she allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits and a pair of walks.
Daysia Wehder (Queens, N.Y.) and Urciuoli both collected a hit for the Falcons.
Megan Kelly (Bronx, N.Y.), Ferraro and Brianna Whitfield (West Islip, N.Y.) were named to the GNAC All-Tournament Team for the Falcons. They were joined by Emmanuel's Catherin Davis and Jill Kilcoyne and Saint Joseph's College of Maine's Theresa Hendrix and Melissa Mayhew. JWU's Emily Gorecki, Kristen Solari, and Emily Schaper were named to the All-Tournament Team, while Corona was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player.
