At today’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship Final, the top-seeded Red Foxes faced the second-seeded Monmouth Hawks. Marist needed to beat Monmouth two times today to win the championship, because they were coming from the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination format. However, Monmouth was able to win the first game 6-1 to capture the MAAC title for the second-straight season.
The first two innings started slowly with neither team scoring. Freshman Lindsey Baron of Monmouth was the only player to reach base in the first inning, before being sent back to the dugout after her teammate struck out. The second inning was very similar to the first, aside from a walk for Marist freshman Kaley Coltrain, neither team reached base during the inning.
Things began to pick up in the third inning with a solo home run by Monmouth senior Jasmine Higa.
Monmouth then added two more runs in the fourth inning, when Monmouth junior Deangie Jimenez singled, driving home Amanda Hopeck and Katie Harrington. Monmouth pulled ahead 3-0 in the fourth.
Just before the start of the fifth inning, Red Fox senior Brooke Harrington took to the field in her homemade “rally cap” to rile up the team. It worked, kind of, as Marist got their lone run in this inning. Marist freshman Hailee Jantorno scored from third on a wild pitch.
Monmouth got two more insurance runs in the seventh, making the score 6-1.
During the seventh inning, Marist Head Coach Joe Ausanio removed all of his seniors, so they could relieve an ovation from the home crowd at Gartland Field.
Even though the Red Foxes lost today, they finished the season with a total of 35 wins. This is the third most in a season in the program’s history. The other two years happened during the senior player’s time at Marist, winning 45 games in 2016, and then 37 games in 2017. This makes the senior class one of the most successful for the program thus far.
“They won 45, 37, 35, I mean that’s just incredible,” said Ausanio when talking about his senior class. “I told them that they have set the bar high. Hopefully, we can continue to recruit quality student-athletes here to continue to follow the standard that they have set.”
Edited by David Salamone
Header photo courtesy of Mike Cahill/Marist Athletics