Tournament Most Valuable Player Amanda Hallaway (Garden Grove, CA/Calvary Chapel - pictured at right) and sophomore left fielder Hailey Clark (Caledon, Ontario/Mayfield) each hit solo home runs to support the solid pitching of senior Sara DeAngelis (Auburn, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) as Hofstra captured the 2003 Colonial Athletic Association softball championship with a 2-1 win over Towson on Saturday afternoon at Hofstra Softball Stadium.
The win gave Hofstra (37-15) its sixth straight conference tournament title, including the first two in the history of the Colonial Athletic Association. The Pride also won the last four conference titles as members of the America East. Hofstra has defeated Towson (31-22-1) in each of the last three seasons and four of the last five. Hofstra also improved to 19-0 in home games against CAA opponents in the two-year history of the league, including 6-0 in the last two conference tournaments. Towson, meanwhile, ended with its seventh runner-up finish in program history while looking for its first title.
Hallaway broke a scoreless deadlock in the bottom of the fourth inning when she knocked a pitch from Towson sophomore Jessica Wides (Damascus, MD/Damascus) down the left field line for a solo homer. That home run was the 23rd of her career, tying her for the school record held by Dana Bennett (1996-99). Clark extended the lead to 2-0 with a drive to left-center field in the bottom of the fifth for her first home run of the season and second of her two-year career with the Pride. Clark had only recently moved back into the starting line-up for the Pride, when she filled in for injured senior center fielder Heather Brousseau (Southington, CT/Southington) in the final weekend series of the season. Brousseau came back to the line-up for the tournament, but Clark was moved into left field.
Towson refused to go quietly, though, and rallied for a run in the top of the sixth inning to cut the deficit in half. Sophomore first baseman Sam Schaukowitch led off the inning with a fisted infield pop-up that fell out of the reach of DeAngelis along the first base line for a single. After a forceout, freshman left fielder Jillian Fraser (Livermore, CA/Livermore) singled into the hole at shortstop. DeAngelis came back with a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but junior catcher Emily Klein (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley NW) hit a bloop single into shallow left-center that fell just out of the reach of Hofstra shortstop Danielle Stewart (Queensland, Australia/Brisbane) to score a run. Runners moved to second and third on the throw home, and Towson's Jenny Edwards (Kirkland, WA/Juanita) hit a sharp ground ball that Pride second baseman Jessica Luna (Lodi, CA/Lodi) fielded for the final out.
Towson nearly put a rally together in the bottom of the seventh inning as sophomore shortstop Katie Mumbauer (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) led off with a drive into left-center field that Clark raced back and caught over her shoulder just in front of the warning track. Senior center fielder Michelle Cappe (Pasadena, MD/Chesapeake) then hit a sharp liner into shallow left field that Clark caught on the run for the second out. Senior second baseman Chris Navarro (Riverside, CA/Jurupa Valley) then hit a slow roller down the first base line that Hallaway fielder and threw to Luna for the final out of the game.
Hofstra once again struggled to get many hits off Towson starter Jessica Wides, the 2003 CAA Pitcher of the Year. Hofstra managed just two hits off Wides in the first meeting of the CAA Tournament, which Hofstra won 4-2 thanks to a three-run homer from Hallaway. In the title game, the Pride managed just four hits, but two were solo home runs. Brousseau had a bunt single and junior catcher Meaghan Almon (East Greenwich, RI) had a line drive single to center with two outs in the third, but that was all the offense the Pride could muster in six innings. Towson, meanwhile, had nine singles on the day, but left eight runners stranded on base.
Joining Hallaway, DeAngelis and Hailey Clark on the All-Tournament team for the Pride was sophomore pitcher Adrienne Clark (Gibsonton, FL/Riverview), who had two wins in the Pride's first two victories. Towson placed Mumbauer, who batted 5-for-14 on the weekend with three RBI, Fraser, who was 2-for-2 in the title game, and Navarro on the All-Tournament team. George Mason's Stacy James (Leesburg, VA/Loudon County) and Kim Braxton (Lynchburg, VA/Heritage) and Delaware's Laura Streets (Newark, DE/Newark) were also chosen.
Hofstra must now await its fate for the 2003 NCAA Tournament selections on Sunday night. The CAA champion does not receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament until next season, since this is only the second year that the league has sponsored softball.
2003 CAA Softball Championship Results
Thursday, May 8
Game 1: George Mason 2, Delaware 1
Game 2: Hofstra 4, Towson 2
Friday, May 9
Game 3: Towson 1, Delaware 0 ?“ Delaware eliminated
Game 4: Hofstra 6, George Mason 0
Game 5: Towson 2, George Mason 1 ?“ George Mason eliminated
Saturday, May 10
Game 6: Hofstra 2, Towson 1 - Hofstra wins 2003 CAA Championship
2003 CAA Softball Championship - All-Tournament Team
Laura Streets, Delaware
Stacy James, George Mason
Kim Braxton, George Mason
Katie Mumbauer, Towson
Chris Navarro, Towson
Jillian Fraser, Towson
Adrienne Clark, Hofstra
Hailey Clark, Hofstra
Sara DeAngelis, Hofstra
Amanda Hallaway, Hofstra - Most Valuable Player
