Corning CC softball team captures regional title, headed back to Division III World Series
Corning Community College's softball team earned a third consecutive trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III World Series with a pair of wins Thursday at home against Hudson Valley Community College in the regional finals.
Corning (35-8) rallied for a 4-3 win in Game 1 and took Game 2 by an 8-0 score to secure the best-of-three Region 3A title for the third year in a row.
The Red Barons have won 32 of their last 33 games. Last weekend they swept Mohawk Valley Community College in a sub-regional, 9-1 and 13-0.
What's Next
The eight-team Division III World Series will be played May 24-27 at Carrier Park in DeWitt, near Syracuse.
Corning finished second to Rock Valley (Illinois) in the previous two World Series. Rock Valley, winner of the last eight Division III national titles, has moved up to Division II.
How Red Barons advanced
The Red Barons overcame a 3-0 deficit in Thursday's first game.
Elmira High graduate Lexi Wood hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to make it a one-run game, and a two-run sixth was capped by Odessa-Montour graduate Grace Vondracek's go-ahead single.
Tournament Most Valuable Player Jayden Hill picked up the win. All three runs against her in a six-hitter were unearned. She struck out nine and walked two.
In the clinching five-inning victory, Corning struck for three runs in the opening inning and added two-run innings in the third and fourth to build a 7-0 advantage. Marley Lippitt gave up one hit in pitching the first four innings and Hill tossed the final inning to earn the save.
Caroline Courson was 3-for-4 for CCC in the nightcap. Vondracek went 2-for-3 with two runs and a double. Wood and Waverly alumna Aubrey Ennis each had two hits and an RBI.
Wood and Vondracek joined Hill on the all-tournament team.
Johnson, Vondracek earn Region 3 honors
Longtime Corning head coach Stacy Johnson was named Region 3 Coach of the Year and Vondracek was named Region 3 Player of the Year. Last year Vondracek was NJCAA Division III Player of the Year. National awards will be announced after the season.
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This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Corning CC softball earns third straight trip to World Series
