BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott softball team claimed their 10th Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) championship this afternoon with a walk-off win in the bottom of the 12th as the top-seeded Gulls came out victorious 7-6 over #5 Western New England. Sophomore Sam DiBella (Danvers, Mass.) cranked a double to right center to send freshman Rachel Couto (Chelmsford, Mass.) home to clinch the win and the program's first title since the 2011, prior to which Endicott had won nine straight CCC Championships. Endicott improved to 25-11-1 while the Golden Bears fell to 23-18.
With the victory the Blue and Green have earned an automatic bid in the upcoming NCAA Division III Regional Tournament, which will begin May 9th-May 11th at a site to be determined. The Gulls will wait to hear who their opponent is in the First Round of the NCAA Regionals which will air on Monday morning on the NCAA Selection Show at 10:00 a.m.
Under the leadership of head coach Mark Veilluex, in his 20th season at the helm of the squad, Endicott has earned 10 conference titles in their 14 appearances in the CCC Championship. Veilleux holds an impressive 555-223-12 overall record to compile a .710 winning percentage in his 20 years.
Controlling the circle for the Gulls was split between CCC Pitcher of the Year, senior Nell O'Connor (Harwich, Mass.) and sophomore Courtney Blake (East Islip, N.Y.). The two combined for 12 total innings while allowing five of the six runs to be earned. Their counterparts, junior Lauren Zambrano (Wallingford, Conn.) and sophomore Heidi Greiger (Hyde Park, N.Y.) struck out four batters but allowed two homeruns and seven earned runs on 16 hits in the tight loss.
Senior shortstop, Jesse Bilafer led the Gulls with three RBIs while also posting her third homerun of the season. Sophomore Jaime Corda (Higganum, Conn.) followed suit with her second homerun of the season to go along with her two RBIs. Senior Kelley Michael (Ipswich, Mass.) was stellar at first base leading with 20 putouts and doing her part in keeping the Gulls defense to just one error throughout the elongated game.
Western New England got on the board first in the top of the first inning as senior Katie Eckert (Lee, Mass.) singled through the left side to send sophomore Heather Fecteau (Biddeford, Maine) around the bases. The lead would not last for long as Corda answered back in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer to left center.
The Blue and Green extended their early advantage in the bottom of the second as Bilafer blasted a three-run homer to left to put Endicott ahead 5-1. After three scoreless innings by both sides, Western New England added two to the scoreboard to cut the lead down to two in the top of the sixth.
The Golden Bears made the game interesting in the top of the seventh as they tallied three runs off a pair of doubles by junior Emily Mastropaola (Cazenovia, N.Y.) and Eckert to take a one run lead. Western New England needed to tab three outs in the bottom of the seventh to hand Endicott a loss and force an elimination championship game, but the Blue and Green would not give it up easily. With one out to go, Couto blasted a double to centerfield to deliver the game-tying run by sophomore Emily Hoffman (Malden, Mass.) to force extra-innings with the game tied 6-6.
Extra innings went scoreless for 3.5 innings until the bottom of the 12th when the Gulls' bats came alive. Couto ripped a leadoff double to get into scoring position and DiBella, the very next batter, stepped up to the plate and launched a double to right center. Veilleux waved Couto around the bases to score the go-ahead run with ease to provide the walk-off, dramatic victory.
