Bethany Softball Earns Spot in ECAC DIII South Regional Championship Tournament
May 9 – DANBURY, Conn. – For the second-consecutive year, the Bethany College softball team has qualified for postseason play, as the Eastern College Athletic Conference has announced the Bison have earned a spot in the upcoming ECAC Division III South Regional Championship Tournament, presented by Force 3 Pro Gear.
Bethany, who finished the season with an overall record of 22-20, completed the year with a second-place finish at the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championships for the second-consecutive year. As such, the Bison were selected as the fourth seed and will compete against top-seed and host, Hood College, to open action on Saturday, May 14th.
Bethany enters the ECAC Championship Tournament having won 13 of their final 18 games of the season, with three of their five losses coming by just one run (1-0 decision in each). The Bison pitching staff has been the cause for the Green & White's late-season successes.
Sophomores Cassie Weiss (Washington, Pa./McGuffey) and Samantha Binkley (Ontario, Canada/St. James) have been on fire for the Bison over the last half of the season, allowing two runs or fewer in 13 of the 18 outings.
Weiss, who was named to the PAC All-Tournament team, ranked among the conference's best in multiple statistical categories. The sophomore ranked first in the conference in strikeouts, setting a new Bethany record with 172 on the year.
Weiss ranked fourth in the conference in opponents' batting average, holding the opposition to .249 in 164.2 innings (which ranked second in the PAC). She finished the year with a career-high 15 wins, posting 20 complete-game performances.
In the postseason, Weiss was even better, starting all four games while allowing giving up just four runs in 29.1 innings of work. She posted an ERA of 0.95, while holding opponents to a batting average of .231. She also struck out 21 total batters.
In two years of postseason play, which included stints in the PAC and ECAC Tournaments in 2015, Weiss has made 10 appearances while starting in nine games. In that time, the Bison ace has thrown 61.1 innings, striking out 66 and holding down a 1.36 ERA. Last season, Weiss struck out a career high 16 in an ECAC semifinal against Misericordia.
Along with Weiss, Binkley has helped bolster the Bison's pitching staff, posting six starts and seven appearances in Bethany's stretch run of the season. The sophomore, competing in her first season as a full-time starter, pitched 35.0 innings over the Green & White's final 13 wins, posting an ERA of 2.00 while striking out 21.
Offensively, the Bison were led by a three-pronged attack of seniors Kayla Kelly (Pasadena, Md./Institute of Notre Dame), Deanna Mihalco (Patterson, N.Y./Brewster) and Marissa Bosley (New Martinsville, W. Va./Magnolia).
Kelly led the Bison in batting average, hitting .367 on the year from her leadoff position. She led the team in hits (47), extra-base hits (18) and runs scored (24). She totaled 12 doubles, two triples and four home runs over the course of the year.
Mihalco hit .333 on the season, posting a team-high on-base percentage of .497. She ranked first on the team in walks (30) while sitting second on the roster in both hits (37) and RBIs (23). The senior first-baseman was also solid defensively, committing just three errors in 264 total attempts.
Like Mihalco, Bosley was solid defensively for the Bison, posting a fielding percentage of .979 behind the dish. From her clean-up position in the batting order, the ever-dangerous Bosley ranked first on the team in RBIs (24), while sitting second in extra-base hits. She finished with a team-best five home runs, while adding six doubles and a pair of triples.
Bethany will open the ECAC Tournament against Hood College, who earned the number one spot in the playoff positioning by finishing the regular season with a 20-17 mark. Hood, like Bethany, made it to the championship round of their conference tournament, falling 3-2 to Widener.
The double-elimination tournament will also feature the second-seeded Cavaliers of Cabrini, as well as the third-seeded Arcadia University Knights.
