Cecil College softball ended their season in the NJCAA Region XX DII Tournament Play-In Round against the Hawks of Hagerstown Community College. No. 4 Cecil College earned the higher seed to host the No. 5 Hawks before their season was spoiled on Sunday. The Seahawks and Hawks split in the first two games on Saturday, forcing a third tie-breaker the following day. Multiple Seahawks errors and a slow start in the batting category cost the Seahawks' their season and their hopes of advancing to the NJCAA Region XX DII Tournament with home field advantage.
After dropping game one in a close 5-2 battle, Cecil College bounced back with a convincing 9-0 victory in five innings to force the tie-breaker on Sunday. Six Seahawks in the line up recorded atleast one hit in the second game victory over the Hawks. Freshman players Carly White and Rachel Durham shined at the plate as they combined for four hits and seven RBI, while each recording a bomb over the outfield fence. Cecil College's Emily Phillips and Olivia Martin also recorded doubles in game #2.
The Seahawks were unable to hold on for another win on Sunday, in part to their slow start and sloppy defense. Cecil College committed four errors in Sunday's loss that cost them four unearned runs. The Seahawks trailed for the entire game and were held scoreless in the first three complete innings.
In 93 at bats throughout the season, freshman infielder Rachel Durham led the Seahawks with a .505 AVG with 19 of her 47 hits going for extra bases and finished second on the team with 31 RBI. Durham's average ranks her fifth in the conference in batting average. Carly White and Olivia Martin led the team with six home runs a piece, combining for twelve of the teams 21 hits over the fence which lands them tied for fifth in MD JUCO. Freshman thirdbasemen Kelly Porte found herself ranking second on the team with 40 hits on the year.
Emily Phillips ended her freshman pitching campaign with an overall record of 11-4, with one save. Phillips struck out 97 batters, gave up only three homeruns, and ranks tied for third in the conference with 11 wins and an ERA of 3.78.
Cecil College will host the NJCAA Region XX DII softball tournament on May 4-6 that will include Chesapeake College, CCBC Catonsville, Potomac State College of West Virginia, and Hagerstown Community College. The tournament will start on Friday, May 4 at 12:00 p.m. and will run as a double-elimination format. Live statistics for all games will be available at www.cecilathletics.com.