LAKEWOOD, N.J. (May 7, 2011) – Dominican College won its second consecutive Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Softball Championship with a 7-4 win over Georgian Court University Saturday afternoon in Lakewood, N.J. By virtue of the win, the No. 3 seed Chargers have earned the CACC's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament. Dominican's Delaney Childers was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player after picking up two wins and a pair of saves in the tournament.

Top-seeded Georgian Court opened the day with a 4-2 win over No. 5 Caldwell College to earn a spot in the championship game and eliminate the Cougars from the tournament. Both Georgian Court and Caldwell will wait to see if they get a bid to the NCAA Regional. The field will be announced Monday.

Dominican took a 1-0 lead over GCU in the championship game in the top of the first inning as Deidre Jeppson led off the game with a walk and shortstop Julie Plante followed with an infield single.  A sacrifice bunt by Paige Berzak moved both runners and Ashley Corrao loaded the bases with an infield single. Designated player Shelby Wassmann was hit by-a-pitch to bring home Jeppson.

DC added four runs in the top of the second inning as third basemen Kathryn Coles led the inning off with a double to left field and Childers followed with an infield single.  Jeppson reached base on a GCU error which allowed Coles to score and Berzak followed with a two run single to center field to put the Lady Chargers up 4-0.  Corrao reached base on an error, allowing Plante to score to go ahead 5-0. Coles added a solo home run in the DC half of the fifth inning increased the lead to 6-0.

GCU got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two out two-run double by Selena Santillo. However, the Lady Chargers regained a five run lead in the sixth inning as Corrao reached base on a Lion error and advanced two bases on another error.  With two outs, second basemen Brielle Kerscher singled to center field to plate Corrao and make the score 7-2.

The Lions added two more runs in the sixth on a Rachel Ruch two-run home run.

Coles led the Lady Chargers, going 3-4 with one RBI and two runs scored.  Plante, Corrao and Childers each added two hits in the win.  As a team Dominican pounded out 13 hits. Junior Katrina Pistilli picked up the win to improve to 14-8 on the season, allowing four runs on five hits and adding three strikeouts in five innings of work. Childers got her second save of the tournament in two innings of work, recording three strikeouts.

Earlier in the day, Georgian Court advanced to face Dominican with a 4-2 win over Caldwell College as Ruch blasted a pair of solo home runs and finished the game 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Diana Sansevera got the win, allowing two runs on seven hits, while Brooke Hull also added a home run for the Lions.

The 2011 All-Tournament team and tournament results are listed below.

All-Tournament Team
Delaney Childers, Dominican – MVP
Deidre Jeppson, Dominican
Ashley Martinez, Dominican
Julie Plante, Dominican
Paige Berzak, Dominican
Diana Sansevera, Georgian Court
Rachel Ruch, Georgian Court
Brooke Hull, Georgian Court
Kelly Ryan, Caldwell
Patti Garofolo, Caldwell
Heather Karasek, Wilmington
Lauren Szymanski, Wilmington
Jaime Lorenzo, Concordia
Amber Doran, Felician
Kira Wagar, Bloomfield
Ashley Cummings, Post

Thursday, May 5
Game 1 - #1 Georgian Court 8 #8 Felician 3
Game 2 -#7 Bloomfield 8, #2 Concordia 5
Game 3 - #3 Dominican  4, #6 Post 0
Game 4 - #5 Caldwell 2, #4 Wilmington 0
Game 5 - Wilmington 7, Felician 5
Game 6 - Post 6, Concordia 1
Game 7 - Georgian Court 4, Caldwell 3
Game 8 - Dominican 6, Bloomfield 3

Friday, May 6
Game 9 - Wilmington 1, Bloomfield 0
Game 10 – Caldwell 5, Post 4
Game 11 – Dominican 6, Georgian Court 2
Game 12 – Caldwell 7, Wilmington 2 

Saturday, May 7
Game 13 – Georgian Court 4, Caldwell 2
Game 14 - Dominican 7, Georgian Court 4