A fortunate bounce and a one-hitter by senior pitcher Maddie Pleasants sent Marist softball to the MAAC championship, defeating Rider 1-0 in eight innings. The 46th win of the season breaks the record for most wins in program history.
The 1-0 extra-innings Red Foxes (46-7-1, 22-2-1 MAAC) win featured a pitcher’s duel with limited scoring chances. For as intense as the eight-inning battle was, the Red Foxes beat Rider (25-33, 15-11 MAAC) on a pop-up in the infield that bounced out of the glove of freshman shortstop Aspen Wheeler.
“I think they came in here really loose today, then they started to press a little bit [as the game went on],” said Marist head coach Joe Ausanio.
In a hard-fought game, one bounce determined which team played again on Saturday and who rested until Sunday morning.
Graduate student pitcher Anna-Marie Groskritz’s playoff no-hitter highlights Rider’s late-season hot streak at the right time. The Broncs are 7-2 in their last nine games, finding themselves undefeated in the semi-final as a six seed.
Rider served Marist one of their two conference losses in the regular season, a 7-6 victory in a doubleheader split on April 15. Groskritz went the distance and picked up the win in that matchup despite giving up five earned runs. Pleasants pitched in Marist’s 4-0 victory with a dominant 12-strikeout complete game shutout. Both winning pitchers, Groskritz and Pleasants, faced off in the semifinal.
“The fact that [Maddie] threw really well against them, we thought if we can play some matchup with our pitchers, we can put ourselves in a good spot. I almost looked like a genius, [Maddie] was phenomenal today,” said Ausanio.
Ausanio used an early pitching conference two batters into the game as the Broncs’ leadoff, junior right fielder Fallyn Stoeckel, worked a walk. Pleasants dialed in after, picking up four strikeouts through the first four innings.
After two innings, Groskritz faced all nine Red Foxes, Pleasants faced seven Broncs and the score remained 0-0.
Junior center fielder Peyton Pusey led off the bottom of the third with a bunt single and moved to second on a fielder’s choice. Redshirt junior second baseman Haley Ahr lined a ball into left field, giving Pusey an opportunity to score.
“Unfortunately, Peyton kind of froze on Haley’s ball. But, she’s probably our best base runner, so I’d rather have her thrown out there any time of the day,” said Ausanio. “Unfortunately, they made a good throw and a good tag, but I got to take that shot there.”
Freshman left fielder Shea Johnson fired home as Pusey rounded third; sophomore catcher Abby Cruz fully extended to tag Pusey at home, keeping the game tied at 0-0 through three innings.
Going into the sixth inning, Pleasants continued filling the strike zone while Groskritz induced soft flyouts. Those trends continued as Pleasants added two more strikeouts for eight total and the Red Foxes flew out twice, sending the scoreless ballgame into the seventh.
Freshman Siena Kunze lined a ball to Stoeckel that looked like a sure out. Instead, Stoeckel came in on the ball, and it sailed over her head, allowing Kunze to pull in safely at second with no outs.
Senior third baseman Ronni Howard came to bat with two outs and Kunze still at second. Howard hit a soft pop-up that fell, putting runners on the corners. Ausanio called upon sophomore Anna Sidlowski for a pinch-hit appearance. Groskritz struck her out, forcing extra innings.
On Pleasants’ 137th pitch of the game, she earned her 10th strikeout to bring the top of the lineup to the plate with a chance to walk it off in extras.
“I was going to keep going out there and do whatever needed to keep us in the game,” said Pleasants. “I never had any panic about the score because our girls are some of the best in the MAAC and runs would come eventually.”
Fittingly, graduate student shortstop Miah McDonald doubled mere inches inside the left field line with one out and moved 90 feet away for Pleasants.
Groskritz forced another pop-up, looking like the inning ended. Freshman shortstop Aspen Wheeler camped under the ball, but it popped out of her glove and dropped to the turf. McDonald, already standing at home expecting extra softball, retouched home and sprinted with the team to first base to celebrate the unconventional walk-off win.
“Miah came up huge with the double. [When I got to first base] I felt butterflies and just so happy that it went our way,” said Pleasants.
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The road to the championship is poetic for the Red Foxes, avenging their two conference losses against Siena and Rider by beating them in the tournament. As they experienced throughout much of the regular season, a home game was again relocated and the Red Foxes never wavered.
Marist will now need to be beaten twice on Sunday, May 10, against whichever team is last standing between Siena, Fairfield and Rider. The first pitch is scheduled for 9 a.m. and is expected to be back in Poughkeepsie.
Edited by Marley Pope
Photo from John Jankowski
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