ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Haverford College softball team succeeded in making its presence known at the Centennial Conference tournament as the Fords took down defending champion McDaniel College, 3-2, in the opening game of the day. Haverford fell 4-2 to Washington College in the final game of the first day of the two-day tournament.
The Fords (24-12) found themselves in a 2-0 hole at the end of the first in the initial game of the tournament (box score) as Tracy Davis' two-run bomb to left center scored Ally Gallati who was on with a single.
Haverford got one run back as it took advantage of some control issues by McDaniel starting pitcher Caroline Brehm (20-9) to manufacture a run in the top of the second. Dayle Comerford reached after being hit by a Brehm offering to give the Fords a lead-off baserunner. Patience then paid off for Stephanie Wolfson and Julie Garlick as both batters worked walks to load the bases. Kristin Tatum came up with an opportunity to do some damage and the freshman earned an RBI when Brehm hit her second batter of the inning.
The score would remain at 2-1 until the top of the seventh when the Fords were able to get the equalizer. Elizabeth Newman, the squad's leading hitter on the season, came up in a pressure-packed situation since Haverford was down to its final out and the junior did not disappoint as she struck a single up the middle. Sophomore Sarah Brody enabled the Fords to tie the game when she followed with a single to left field. Newman was running on the play which enabled her to take advantage of an errant relay and come all the way around to score.
The Green Terror looked to come up with the win in the bottom of the seventh but Haverford's Sara Tauriello would have none of it. The freshman pitcher induced three straight ground balls from McDaniel to send the game to extra innings.
The two squads played a 10-inning affair during the regular season but the Fords ended this one quickly. Leading off the eighth with three straight singles, Haverford moved ahead for the first time in the contest. Comerford singled to right center and then Wolfson sent her own single to left. Sophomore Lauren Touey completed the comeback with an RBI-single to center that scored Miwa Wenzel, who was inserted as a pinch runner for Comerford.
Tauriello (10-2) made sure Wenzel's run was the difference maker as she struck out the final two batters of the game to strand the Green Terror's hope for a tie at first base. The freshman left-hander finished with four strikeouts on the day. After scattering five hits over the first four innings, Tauriello surrendered just one other hit over the final four frames.
Brody and Touey finished with two hits apiece as Haverford got to Brehm for seven hits and three earned runs. Brehm, the conference pitcher of the year in 2012, struck out 15 in the loss.
The Fords looked to advance to Sunday's championship with a win against fourth-seeded Washington College (25-16) in the final game of the first day of competition.
The Shorewomen went on top with two hits and one run in the fourth. Haverford battled right back to tie things up in the fifth as Jen DiCandilo struck an RBI-single to left field that scored Kristin Tatum.
Washington, the 2012 conference runner-up, tacked on another run in the sixth to retake the lead on a Jaclyn Jayo RBI-double to right center.
Trailing 4-1 in the bottom of the seventh, the Fords aimed for another rally to land them in Sunday's championship game but they were only able to come up with one run on three hits. Brody delivered her second RBI of the day on a bunt single but it wasn't enough as the Shorewomen held on for the 4-2 victory.
Newman and Touey accounted for two hits apiece as Haverford tallied eight hits off of Washinton starter Kristin Cooper (12-8).
Freshman Emily Winesett (9-8) suffered the loss in the circle for the Fords despite limiting the top run-producing squad in the conference to just seven hits and four earned runs over six-plus innings of work.
Haverford gets right back to action on Sunday at 10 a.m. as it takes on top seed and tournament host Muhlenberg College for the chance to play Washington in the championship.