SCHNECKSVILLE, Pa. - The Northampton Softball team saw their 2017 season come to a disappointing end on Wednesday afternoon, as they were eliminated from the Region XIX Tournament by Lehigh Carbon Community College, 2 games to none in their best of three series.
GAME ONE - The #4 seeded Cougars jumped out to a 1-0 lead and extended that to 5-0 in the 3rd inning after a miscue allowed them to keep the inning alive. Northampton responded with in the 5th with a RBI single from
Miranda Youngkin (Easton, PA/Easton) and a 2 run-single from
Erin Happel (Bangor, PA/Bangor ), to make the score 5-3 LCCC.
The Cougars got one run back in the bottom of the 5th and then hung on for a 6-3 victory in game one. Happel took the loss, going 7 innings with 3 strikeouts. Youngkin finished 2 for 4 with a stolen base and run scored and
Samantha Cordova (Hinsdale, NY/Hinsdale (NY)) was 2 for 3.
GAME TWO - The Spartans got on the board in the 1st inning as
Samantha Santucci (Springfield, NJ/J. Dayton High (NJ)) drove home
Miranda Youngkin (Easton, PA/Easton), to give Northampton a 1-0 lead.
Lehigh Carbon plated 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st, but the Spartans answered in the 2nd when
Courtney Maffia (Easton, PA/Easton ) doubled, moved to third on a
Sydney Wright (Milford, DE/Sussex Technical (DE)) single and scored on a fielders choice by
Samantha Cordova (Hinsdale, NY/Hinsdale (NY)).
Wright knocked home Happel, who had singled, in the 3rd to take a 3-2 lead, but the Cougars got 2 runs in the bottom of the 3rd to take a 4-3 lead and never looked back, scoring 7 more runs to earn an 11-3 victory and eliminate the Spartans.
Miranda Youngkin (Easton, PA/Easton), who finished 2 for 3, stole her 37th base of the season to tie the all-time single season record at Northampton. Youngkin finished her career with 55 steals, good for second all-time. Santucci and Maffia each went 3 for 3 to pace the Spartans.
The Spartans finish the season 16-18 overall.
Lehigh Carbon improves to 19-9 and advances to the Region XIX Final Four, where they will face #1 seed Rowan Gloucester on Saturday at RCGC.
