BRIARCLIFF, NY- Shelby Yung (Upland, CA/Upland) (Upland, CA/Upland) and Jeane Drury (Flanders, NJ/Morris Catholic High School) (Flanders, NJ/Morris Catholic) both hit key homeruns as the Setters eliminated the #4 Le Moyne Dolphins in the First Round of the NE-10 Championship by a score of 7-5. Pace advanced to NE-10 Championship Weekend hosted by the University of New Haven and will face #2 seed Saint Anselm from the Northeast Division on Thursday, May 1 at 3:30 pm.
The teams matched each other over the first two innings as Le Moyne got on the board with a run in the opening inning. The Setters answered in the bottom half of the frame as they loaded the bases with two outs. Samantha Garcia (Rancho Cucamonga, CA/Rancho Cucamonga) (Rancho Cucamonga, CA/Rancho Cucamonga) drew a walk to tie the game at 1-1. The Dolphins retook the lead with a run in the second but the Setters had an answer as Yung blasted a solo homerun to left.
Le Moyne jumped back in front with a run in the fourth but the Setters broke it open in their half of the inning. Rachael McMahon (Corona, CA/Esperanza) (Corona, CA/Esperanza) singled and Lana Buchbinder (San Francisco, CA/George Washington) (San Francisco, CA/George Washington) drew a walk. Yung doubled in McMahon with the tying run and Drury cleared the bases with a three-run homerun to left. Pace tacked on an insurance run in the sixth on a Natalie Gellos (Seattle, WA/Holy Names Academy) (Seattle, WA/Holy Names Academy) sacrifice fly to lead 7-3. The Dolphins closed the gap with two in the seventh but Kaitlynn Nelson (Ojai, CA/Nordhoff) (Ojai, CA/Nordhoff) came on for the final two outs to close the door and earn her second save of the season.
For the Setters, Yung went 3-for-3 with three runs scored, two RBI, two doubles and a homerun. Drury went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs scored and a homerun. Caitlin McCann (San Mateo, CA/Notre Dame) evened her record at 11-11 on the season, going 6 1/3 innings, allowing five runs, four earned on eight hits, while striking out nine. Nelson faced three batters, allowing one hit to seal Pace's first post season victory since 2008.
The Setters advance to the NE-10 Championship and will face Saint Anselm at the University of New Haven on Thursday, May 1 at 3:30 pm.
