Butterworth lifts Molloy into NCAAs

The sunshine and comfortable temperatures would have supported a long afternoon of softball Saturday. "Let's play two" seemed operative, but Molloy's softball team collectively decided "Let's not."

The East Coast Conference title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in Division II were on the line and Molloy had been in the identical situation against Dowling last season. "Dowling had to beat us twice," Molloy third baseman Haley Calderwood said of the double-elimination tournament. "We didn't want to play two games. We came out wanting to win just one game, not be a repeat of last year and lose it again."

Molloy pitcher Megan Butterworth threw a four-hitter and struck out 11 as Molloy made it one and won in the championship round with a 4-0 victory. Molloy (41-12) will advance to the subregional next week. Dowling (42-6) and C.W. Post (36-14) are also expected to receive bids.

Molloy had lost all four regular-season games to Dowling. "We always knew we could beat them," second baseman Alexandra Sydor said. "We just went out and played our hearts out."

Molloy essentially put the game away in the second inning as Megan Hutnick and Sydor had run-scoring singles for a 2-0 lead. In the sixth, Jeana Frey doubled and scored on Sydor's two-base hit. Calderwood singled in Sydor for the final run. Calderwood drove in four of her team's eight runs in the tournament. Frey was 8-for-10 over three games.

Coach Sue Cassidy-Lyke said it was imperative to beat Dowling, ranked eighth in the nation and a likely opponent if both teams advance to the super regional in two weeks. "Moving into the regionals, it is important that we know we can beat them," she said.

Butterworth, named the tournament's most outstanding player, was 3-0 and did not allow an earned run in 21 innings. She is 22-7 with 266 strikeouts and a 1.19 ERA. Butterworth was a freshman last year and helped Molloy reach D-II's version of the World Series.

"Last year, there were no expectations, so this year going in, there were a lot of expectations," Cassidy-Lyke said. "They feel like now, if they get this opportunity again, they would feel like they could maybe do a little bit of damage."

Losing to Dowling during the regular season was not an obstacle. "When it really counted, we came out on top," Butterworth said. "This is great going into next week.''

And perhaps beyond.

"We're going to play our best and see how far we can go," Calderwood said. "I think we can make it all the way again. I think we are probably the best team in the region. We'll have to see."