Corning CC softball team loses national championship in stunning fashion
Corning Community College's softball team had two chances to win the NJCAA Division III World Series on Saturday, but North Dakota State College of Science denied the Red Barons in both games at Carrier Park in DeWitt, using a six-run bottom of the seventh inning to win the deciding game in stunning fashion, 13-12.
Corning (38-10) finished as national runner-up for the third year in a row.
Lara Dolezal's two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh scored the tying and winning runs. All six Wildcats runs in the seventh came with two outs after they trailed 12-7 following a three-run top of the seventh for the Red Barons.
North Dakota SCS cut the lead to 12-11 on a two-out error, setting up Dolezal for the winning hit. A two-run triple from Amanda Hiner was followed by an RBI single by Avery Martin earlier in the inning.
North Dakota SCS (36-14) forced the deciding game with an 11-4 victory earlier Saturday. After beating Suffolk County 11-2 and Joliet 10-1 on Wednesday, Corning moved into the championship round with a 3-2 triumph over North Dakota SCS on Thursday.
In the deciding game, Grace Talbut hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh to put Corning up 12-7. She drove in three runs on the day.
CCC's Gabby Coletta was 4-for-4 with three runs and Odessa-Montour graduate Grace Vondracek went 3-for-5 with a double and three runs.
Vondracek went 3-for-3 in Game 1 and Elmira High graduate Lexi Wood was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.
Both teams had 18 hits in Game 2.
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: North Dakota SCS stunned Corning for NJCAA Division III softball title
