Rochester College claims first USCAA softball national championship
FIRST FOR EVERYTHING: Rochester College captured its first national championship in female athletics May 9 with the USCAA Softball title. Courtesy Photo | USCAA
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
AKRON, Ohio — Rochester College has enjoyed tremendous success in athletics over the years, with multiple national championships, national runners-up or Final Four appearances in a variety of sports.
Yet the Warriors’ softball program accomplished a major first at the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Small College National Softball Championships.
The Warriors defeated second-seeded St. Mary’s of the Woods in the final game of the best-of-three championship series, 8-6, at Firestone Stadium in Akron, completing a two-game sweep of the Pomeroys.
The tournament was held May 6-9.
Finishing with a 23-15 record with 18 games cancelled due to poor weather, the Warriors entered the postseason ranked No.1 in the nation in the USCAA polls. RC finished on top in the most important poll of them all.
“When I came over here, I thought we might have a good team,” said coach Steve Ogg, a veteran to the club and collegiate softball ranks who has also coached in national tournaments with Oakland Community College and Oakland University. “We played a lot of bigger schools, so I thought then when we played smaller schools like ours, then we would have some success. A lot of our rainouts were games against smaller schools, so I think our record could have been better if we played more games.
“I am proud of this team, because we came together in such a short time to have a great season,” said Ogg. “I know this is a first for the women’s softball program here and probably for women’s sports in general.”
HOLDING IT HIGH: Members of the Rochester College softball team celebrate the USCAA national championship. Courtesy Photo | USCAA
This was indeed the first national championship in women’s sports at the school and the second sport to claim top honors this school year at Rochester College. The Warriors’ men’s golf team won the USCAA national title last November.
Rochester College finished 5-1 overall at the four-day national championship tournament and had some flair for the dramatic in its title-clinching game.
In the final game of the championship series, the Warriors trailed 6-4 entering the top of the seventh. Tournament MVP Briana Seratto laced an RBI double cut the deficit to 6-5 to begin a four-run rally. With no outs and runners at second and third, Melissa Roy smacked a two-run double, her fourth double of the tournament, to give Rochester a 7-6 lead.
Courtney Dunlap added an RBI single to extend the lead to 8-6.
Rochester College relief pitcher Vivian Monroy came in with runners on first and second with one out in the bottom half of the seventh and shut the door on the Pomeroys to seal the national title.
In Game 1 of the Championship Series, Rochester jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the second inning and held St. Mary’s of the Woods in check the whole game for the shutout.
Mellissa Lehman and Katy Peacock split the shutout from the circle, with Lehman pitching 4 2/3 innings with six hits and five strikeouts and Peacock went 2 1/3 frames to gain the save, giving up just one hit.
Seratto, Katie Ogg (Waterford Mott), the coach’s daughter, and freshman Tessa Tomlin (Lake Orion), earned USCAA All-America honors this season, all putting up stellar numbers at both the tournament and entire season.
The Warriors opened the tournament with wins over Penn College (9-1) and Penn State-Beaver (11-5) and a loss to Spaulding (1-0, nine innings) during pool play. In the championship bracket, the Warriors avenged the loss to Spalding with a 5-4, nine-inning victory, to advance to the finals.
“That was quite a comeback,” offered Ogg.”After losing 1-0 in nine innings, we come back the next day and beat the same team in nine innings to advance to the finals.”
Ogg said that all of the pieces to the puzzle came together at the right time.
“I had the pleasure of coaching a couple of these girls at OCC a couple of years ago, including my daughter, and they came over here and helped us have a special season,” said Ogg, who also helped Oakland University reach the NCAA tournament for the first time in 1999 and O.C.C. reach the junior college national tournament on more than one occasion.
This was Ogg’s first season at Rochester College, where there were only three seniors on the entire roster with eight freshmen, two sophomores and two juniors.
“We have some talented kids coming in next season and we only lose a small group of seniors,” said Ogg, who is a candidate for national coach of the year. “Can we do it again next year? We’ll enjoy this for now. I don’t think anybody felt at the beginning of the season that we would win a national championship.”
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Category: Campus Clips, Colleges / Other, Rochester College
