OFFICIAL PHOTO GALLERY OF 2018 CACC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
WATCH ARCHIVED WEBCAST OF 2018 CACC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

LAKEWOOD, N.J. (May 5, 2018) – Freshman Paige Sandoval lived out the dream everyone has thought about at one point or another ... being the hero as your team wins a championship.

Sandoval slammed a walk-off, three-run homer over the left-field fence in the bottom of the eighth to lift top-seeded Caldwell University to a 10-7 win over fourth-seeded Dominican College on Saturday afternoon in the 2018 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Softball Championship at SEI Investments Field on the Georgian Court University campus in Lakewood, N.J. It marked the second-straight conference championship for the Cougars, who locked up the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament next week at a site to be determined. Sandoval earned tournament most valuable player honors for her heroic accomplishment, as she also drilled a grand slam earlier in the week during the event.

The Cougars captured their eighth CACC championship and have won three of the last four CACC Championships. The Cougars will await their seeding on the NCAA Division II Softball Selection Show, which will be streamed live via ncaa.com on Monday, May 7 at 10 a.m.

The game went to extra innings as Dominican provided some two-out magic in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game at 7-7, as Taylor Daniels sent a rope into the gap in right-center to drive in Alyssa Schwed from second base. Schwed reached base earlier in the frame with two outs and later advanced to second on a passed ball to get into scoring position for Daniels' rope to the outfield wall. Dominican needed to tie it in the seventh after Caldwell scored four times in the bottom of the sixth to rally from a 6-3 deficit to a 7-6 advantage.
 
Caldwell took the lead in the first inning as freshman Maya Rodriguez singled in a pair of runs. Junior Carly Testa added a sacrifice fly in the inning to extend the lead to 3-0.
 
Dominican rallied in the top of the second as they pushed across four runs, highlighted by RBI singles from Shailei Kraft and Samantha Fitzgerald. The Chargers added a pair of runs in the sixth to extend their lead to 6-3, as Kraft added another RBI base hit to give Dominican what appeared to be enough insurance runs to force an "if necessary" game for the conference crown.
 
The Cougars answered in their half of the sixth as sophomore pinch hitter Daniela Solis led off the inning with a solo home run. Sophomore Melissa Rini drew a walk, while Rodriguez followed with a double to score Rini. Freshman Kaileen Cain tied the game at six as she singled up the middle. Testa reached on an infield single later in the frame as Cain scored to give Caldwell a 7-6 lead.
 
In the eighth, senior Marisa Monasseri was intentionally walked to start the inning. After a sacrifice bunt, Cain worked out a walk to put runners at first and second with one out. Sandoval stepped to the plate and sent a 3-2 pitch over the fence to set off a wild celebration for the Cougars.
 
2018 CACC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Nicole Spiegelberg (Felician)
Demi Rivera (Post)
Jovanna Alfonsi (Jefferson)
Taylor Favinger (Holy Family)
Makayla McCarthy (Wilmington)
Alyssa Velasquez (Wilmington)
Samantha Reilly (Georgian Court)
Caitlin Hughes (Georgian Court)
Taylor Daniels (Dominican)
Alyssa Schwed (Dominican)
Rajene Bowe (Dominican)
Paige Sandoval (Caldwell)
Melissa Rini (Caldwell)
Marisa Monasseri (Caldwell)
Jessie Johnston (Caldwell)
MVP: Paige Sandoval (Caldwell)

ABOUT THE CACC
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 14 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Concordia (N.Y.) College, Dominican (N.Y.) College, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University), Nyack College, Post University of Waterbury, University of the Sciences, and Wilmington University.