North Eastern Athletic Conference Spring Championship Review

GANSEVOORT, NY – The North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) concluded the spring season with its Conference Championship tournaments in baseball, softball, and men’s and women’s lacrosse on Friday, May 1 and 2, 2009. Keuka College hosted women’s softball and men’s lacrosse as the number one seed, while Cazenovia College hosted men’s baseball and women’s lacrosse as the number one seed.

In baseball, the NEAC conducted a play-in contest between Penn State University – Berks and SUNY Institute of Technology, in which Penn State – Berks defeated SUNYIT with a score of 8-3. In the first round play of a double-elimination tournament, #4 Penn State – Berks upset #1 Cazenovia College by a score of 24-9, and #2 Keuka College defeated #3 Penn State University – Harrisburg 11-8.

In the winner’s bracket, Penn State – Berks went on to beat Keuka College 23-5 to advance to the championship game. During the first round of the loser’s bracket, Cazenovia and Penn State – Harrisburg battled to a 20-19 score in favor of #1 seed Cazenovia. Cazenovia faced
Keuka in the second round of the loser’s bracket and succeeded with a score of 10-5, which moved Cazenovia into the championship game vs. Penn State – Berks.

The championship game was a back and forth battle with Penn State – Berks making a run in the 6th inning to triumph over #1 seed Cazenovia College by a score of 12-9. Penn State – Berks will receive the NCAA automatic qualifier for the NEAC.

The tournament MVP was Penn State – Berks catcher, #8 Seth Shultz. Over the three games his team played in the tournament, Shultz batted .667, had 12 at-bats, 8 hits, 9 runs scored, 9 RBIs, 4 doubles, 1 homerun, a slugging percentage of 1.25, 3 walks, and an on-base percentage of .750. Behind the plate, he had 14 putouts and no errors for a perfect fielding percentage.

In softball, a play-in game between the #4 seed Wilson College and #5 seed Penn State University – Harrisburg concluded with Wilson defeating Penn State – Harrisburg 11-10 in 8 innings. In the first round of a double-elimination tournament, #1 Keuka College defeated
the #4 Wilson College by a score of 5-4, and #2 D’Youville College defeated #3 Penn State University – Berks 6-5 in 8 innings.

In the winner’s bracket, Keuka went on to beat D’Youville 7-2 to advance to the championship game. During the first round of the loser’s bracket, Wilson and Penn State – Berks battled to a 12-11 score where Wilson came out on top. D’Youville faced Wilson in the second round of the loser’s bracket and succeeded with a score of 6-4, which moved D’Youville into the championship game for a rematch vs. Keuka.

The championship game was a close fought battle with Keuka proving their 15-1 conference record was best by beating D’Youville with a score of 3-2. Keuka will receive the NCAA automatic qualifier for the NEAC. The tournament MVP was Keuka sophomore outfielder #7 Denise Bilbow. Bilbow batted 4-for-11 with 5 runs scored, 3 RBIs, 4 stolen bases, a home run, and a double.

The NEAC conducted a championship game in men’s lacrosse, which took place at #1 seed Keuka College. Keuka defeated #2 seed Medaille College with a final score of 17-4 in the inaugural season of men’s lacrosse in the NEAC. The tournament MVP was Keuka
senior attacker #6 Adam Farrell as he scored a game-high five goals while also dishing off an assist for a total of 6 points. Farrell ripped eight shots in the game while also picking up three ground balls and causing only one turnover.

The NEAC conducted a championship game in women’s lacrosse, which was hosted by #1 seed Cazenovia College. The #2 seed Keuka College Storm upset the Wildcats of Cazenovia by a score of 14-13 in the inaugural season of women’s lacrosse in the NEAC. The tournament MVP was #17 Brandy Shafer of Keuka College. Shafer scored 5 goals on 8 shots while also securing 2 ground balls and three draw controls for the Storm in the championship game.