Skip to content Skip to navigation Skip to footer

Hawks Soar Into Region 3 Semifinals, But Fall Short

Hawks Soar Into Region 3 Semifinals, But Fall Short
Posted: May 17, 2022

The Hawk's traveled to Troy, NY on Saturday afternoon for the Region 3 championship semifinals against the Vikings of Hudson Valley Community College. 

Game 1 was a battle of great defense and pitching as the bats never really got going for either team. The low scoring affair saw the Hawks fall 4-2, and lose the first game of the 3 game series.

Sophomore Elana Calicchia went 1/3 with 1 RBI and freshman outfielder Rachel Yardley went 2/3 with 1 run.

However, the second game of the day was a different story!. In a do or die game, the Hawks scored 7 runs in the 5th inning alone, to take control. Eliza Marusic was the  "star of the show"  as she went 4/4 with 1 run, and had 6 RBI's to give the Hawks some all important seperation. Her impressive performance was complimented nicely by Breanna Grogg, Kennedy Case, Elana Calicchia, and Maryann Lewandrowski all of whom went 2/4 and left it all out there in this pivotal game.. This overpowering MV offensive surge "run ruled" the HVCC Vikings and forced a tie breaking game 3, with the season on the line.

In the final game of the series, MV came out strong. In the top of the 1st , a base hit, and two walks, loaded up the bases, and set the stage for sophomore Kimberely Birmingham to make a big play for her team, and she did not disappoint. The Hawks infielder hit a grand slam to give MV a commanding 4-0 lead. But the Hawks weren't finished building their lead. In that same inning Elana Calicchia continued her strong play with a solo shot to push the lead to 5-0. 

As the game went on, it was obvious that all of the Hawks were not going to go down without a fight. Positive contributions were made across the board, as Kennedy Case went 2/4 and MaryAnn Lewandrowski went 3/4 to give the HVCC Vikings everything they could handle. The Hawks went on to score 9 total runs but unfortunately the inspired performance by Coach Mexico's crew fell short with a 13-9 loss, and led to the end of a successful season. 

MV finished the year with a 13-12 record and landed 3 players on the Mountain Valley Conference team including Kimberely Birmingham, Breanna Grogg, and Angelina Hayes. Mohawk Valley Women's softball coach Brittnee Mexico was named 2021-2022 Mountain Valley Conference Coach of the Year, her second time recieving this honor since 2018.