Queens College women’s softball team continued their strong season by bringing home the 2015 East Coast Conference championship on May 2.
The Lady Knights defeated LIU Post 2-0. This championship is the teams first since 2001. The Lady Knights pushed their overall record to an impressive 35-14.
They came into the championship matchup against a tough LIU Post team with winning on their minds.
Senior first baseman Monique Roberge set the tone by hitting a solo homerun in the bottom of the 4th, giving the team a 1-0 advantage. The Lady Knights went on to score again in the bottom of the 6th when Senior Samantha Mattsson doubled to left center scoring Sophomore Alicia Gonzalez.
Roberge played masterfully all season long. She led the conference in homeruns (15) and RBIs (58) and was also selected to the All-Conference First Team. She added to her collection of accolades by being awarded the MVP award after she closed out the victory with four shut out innings, allowing one hit and seven strikeouts.
Coach of the Year, Amy Delmore knew she had a great team on her hands and had high expectations for the team from the very beginning of the season. One of the objectives was win the school’s first ECC championship after over a decade of falling short.
“Our mindset has always been setting goals, talking about those goals and making sure we’re setting them week by week and our overall goal was to win the ECC championship. That’s been our approach the whole entire season,” Coach Delmore said.
Despite heading into the biggest game of their season, Coach Delmore looked at it as just another game and wouldn’t allow the pressure effect her players or coaching staff.
“We tried to keep the same mindset we’ve had in all of our games which is to be laid back, relaxed and have a confident mindset,” Coach Delmore said.
The players responded well and seemingly adopted Coach Delmore’s swagger and confident attitude.
“They’re definitely a great team and there’s no denying that but we knew we had it. We were just going to come out and play our game. We were very confident,” Senior Isabelle Yaroch said.
Yaroch started the game and pitched three shutout innings.
Now the team shifts its attention to the next task at hand – the NCAA tournament.
“Right now I think we’re living in the moment and looking to finish this season off strong,” Coach Delmore said.
The Lady Knights’ next game is the NCAA East Regional First Round against #6 LIU Post at Manchester, NH on May 8.
