ANNVILLE, PA – The York College softball team picked the perfect time to be hot as the Spartans captured their second MAC Commonwealth title in three years with a sweep of Lebanon Valley on Saturday.
The Spartans entered the tournament on Thursday as the three seed and suffered a 9-4 loss in the opening round. York then ripped off five straight wins to capture the program's second ever conference championship. York beat Lebanon Valley 4-3 to force a deciding game which York won 5-4 to earn the title. York's wins eliminated the other four teams in the tournament.
 
MAC Commonwealth Tournament – Game Eight
Records: York 22-19; Lebanon Valley 32-8
Runs: York 4; Lebanon Valley 3
Hits: York 8; Lebanon Valley 13
Errors: York 2; Lebanon Valley 0
WP: Amanda Criss (12-7); LP: Jordan Walter (17-3)
 
How It Happened
• The Dutchmen struck for a run in the first as Sam Burns singled, stole second and scored on a Spartan error. LVC stranded a runner at third to end the inning. York wasted little time in tying the game in the top of the second. Gretchen Barstad doubled with one out in the inning. She moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Taylor Coon singled to left, tying the game at one.
• York surged into the lead in the top of the third. Alyssa Harhigh singled to left to lead off the inning. Daphney Adams walked and then Kaela Fritz loaded the bases with a single. Bri McKeown ripped a single to left, scoring Harhigh and Adams for a 3-1 Spartan lead. Barstad walked to re-load the bases with no outs. Amanda Criss then scored Fritz with an RBI single down the right field line, giving York the 4-1 lead. LVC went to the pen and reliever Erin Sinatra struck out the side to end the Spartan threat.
• The Dutchmen got two runners on in the bottom of the fifth but Criss was able to work out of the jam to preserve the three-run lead. She wouldn't be that lucky in the sixth as the Dutchmen plated a pair of runs on four hits and one Spartan error. The Dutchmen left the tying run at second as Criss got a ground out to end the inning.
• LVC got a single to lead off the bottom of the seventh. The Dutchmen sacrificed the pinch runner to second and Megan Heard drew a walk. A fielder's choice was the second out for York as the Dutchmen had runners at the corners with two outs. Criss got a ground out back to her to end the game and force a winner take all game two.
• Criss bobbed and weaved all game long as the Dutchmen had traffic all around her during the contest. The Dutchmen had 13 hits, all singles, as the hosts left 12 runners on base.
 
Spartan Offensive Leaders
Bri McKeown: 2-for-4, 2 RBI
Taylor Coon: 2-for-4, RBI
Alyssa Harhigh: 1-for-4, 1 run
Kaela Fritz: 1-for-4, 1 run
Gretchen Barstad: 1-for-3, 1 run, BB, 2B
 
Spartan Pitching
Amanda Criss: 7.0 IP, 13 hits, 3 ER, 1 K, 1 BB, 1 WP
 
MAC Commonwealth Tournament – Game Nine
Records: York 23-19; Lebanon Valley 32-9
Runs: York 5; Lebanon Valley 4
Hits: York 8; Lebanon Valley 7
Errors: York 1; Lebanon Valley 1
WP: Amanda Criss (13-7); LP: Erin Sinatra (11-4)
 
How It Happened
• Lebanon Valley struck first again as they scored a single run in the top of the second on an Anna Marie Hockman RBI double to right. The Spartans responded in big time fashion as the Spartans erupted for a five-run bottom of the second inning. Kylee Paules singled to center, scoring Bri McKeown with York's first run. Emma Keller gave York a 2-1 lead with an RBI double to left center, scoring Paules for York. Later in the inning, Morgan Sauers scored two with a single and then came around to score herself on a LVC error.
• The Spartans would maintain their 5-1 lead until the Dutchmen made things uncomfortable in the sixth with a three-run inning. Lebanon Valley banged out four straight one-out doubles to score a trio of runs. Spartan starter Amanda Criss got a ground out and a pop out to end the inning.
• The Dutchmen got a two out double from Julia Craig but Criss got a pop up to clinch the championship for the Spartans.
 
Spartan Offensive Leaders
Morgan Sauers: 3-for-3, 1 run, 1 RBI
Taylor Coon: 1-for-4, 1 run
Bri McKeown: 1-for-3, 1 run
Kylee Paules: 1-for-2, 1 run, 1 RBI
Emma Keller: 1-for-3, 1 run, 1 RBI
 
Spartan Pitching
Amanda Criss: 7.0 IP, 7 hits, 4 ER, 1 K, 1 BB, 1 HB
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans finished the tournament on a five game winning streak as the Spartans have won 11 of their last 12 games … York is now 12-3 all-time in the MAC Commonwealth tournament … York improves to 4-1 against LVC in the Commonwealth tournament … York's tournament championship is the second in three years as York won the 2021 title in their first year in the league … the championship is the second overall in the history of the Spartan program … Amanda Criss earned the tournament Most Valuable Player award as she threw all 14 innings for the Spartans on the day … Criss went 4-1 in the tournament with a 2.47 ERA in 28.1 innings of work … in the tournament, the Spartans were led offensively by Alyssa Harhigh as she hit .389 with three runs scored, three RBI and a pair of stolen bases in six games … Morgan Sauers hit .368 with three runs scored and three RBI … York had just five extra bases hits in the tournament and all five were doubles … senior Taylor Coon registered her team-leading 14^th multi-hit game of her season with her two knocks in game one … Morgan Sauers now has 12 multi-hit games including three, three hit games … Kaela Fritz extended her hit streak to six games over the weekend … Fritz also extended her current reaching base safely streak to 12 while Emma Keller is now at 11 … York improves to 6-8 in one-run games …York is 12-5 when scoring between three and five runs in a game … the Spartans are 16-2 when leading after four innings of play … the Spartans advance to their third NCAA Tournament in school history … York earned an at-large back in 2001 and then the automatic berth in 2021.
 
Up Next
The Spartans will now wait to see where they will travel for the 2023 NCAA Division III Tournament. The tournament selection show will be Monday, May 15 at 1:00 pm.