May 4, 2009
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Endicott College softball team captured its seventh-straight The Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship by winning three games on Saturday afternoon while facing elimination. On Monday afternoon, the Gulls were rewarded by sweeping the three weekly TCCC honors as Ashley Wright (Merrimack, N.H.) was named the TCCC Player of the Week, Jenna Bortolotti (Milton, Mass.) was named Pitcher of the Week, and Katherine McGann (Topsfield, Mass.) was honored as the Conference Rookie of the Week.
Wright was the offensive force behind the Gulls road to the Championship as the sophomore center fielder batted .400 (6-for-15) with two home runs, eight RBI and six runs scored in five conference tournament games. Wright, who batted safely in four of five tournament games, doubled in the tying run and scored the winning run in Endicott's 5-4 victory over WNEC in the TCCC Championship Game, the Gulls' third win of the day on Saturday.
Fellow classmate Jenna Bortolotti helped lead the Gulls on the mound as she went 4-0 with a 2.05 ERA in four starts and one relief appearance to help the Gulls claim the 2009 TCCC Championship. She picked up three wins on the final day of the conference tournament, hurling a 5-0, one-hit shutout over Salve Regina and picking up a pair of one-run wins, 4-3 and 5-4, over Western New England to lock up the Gulls' seventh-straight TCCC crown.
Finally, Katherine McGann played a major role in her first postseason action as the freshman batted .462 (6-for-13) and helped the Gulls secure the 2009 TCCC Championship. She collected five total hits in Endicott's three-win day on Saturday, including a successful suicide squeeze with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning of the championship game that plated Ashley Wright and snapped a 4-4 tie. Endicott held on to win the contest - and the league title, 5-4.
The Blue and Green now look ahead to the NCAA Tournament where Endicott has been selected to host the NCAA Division III Softball Championship Regional Site this year at the Endicott Softball Stadium. The \#4 Gulls will face off against No. 5 Emerson College on Thursday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
