UNION, N.J. (May 14) – One of the greatest seasons in recent Waynesburg University athletics history came to a close on Saturday. After setting new program records, collecting a pile of All-Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) accolades and going further than any team has in the past, the Yellow Jacket softball team played its final game of the 2022 campaign, which resulted in a 6-1 loss to Alfred in an NCAA Division III championship tournament elimination game.
The Saxons (26-15) took advantage of a Waynesburg (27-11) error in the second inning to plate a pair of unearned runs that wound up being the game-winning tallies. Alfred held onto its multi-run lead until the bottom of the fourth. Junior leftfielder
Reghan Benschoter (Newark, Ohio / Granville) led off with a double. Two batters later, sophomore first baseman
Emma Bliss (Uniontown, Pa. / Laurel Highlands) singled to put runners on the corner with one out on the board.
Freshman starting pitcher
Sydney Wilson (Pentress, W.Va. / Clay-Battelle) connected on a deep fly ball to right field that nearly cleared the wall for a three-run bomb. Though the ball was caught, it did allow Benschoter to score and cut Alfred's lead to 2-1.
Wilson's pitching and the Jacket defense kept the deficit at one run until the top of the seventh, when an infield single, a stolen base and a wild pitch put a runner on third with no outs for Alfred. That series of events was the beginning of the end for the plucky Jackets. Some very uncharacteristic control problems in the circle, combined with a two-run double allowed the Saxons to rack up four runs during their final at-bats that put the game out of reach.
Waynesburg head coach
Brett Shimek made the best of the situation by going to his bench and allowing several of his reserves the chance to play in the program's first trip to the national championship tournament.
Hits were hard to come by on the day, as the two squads combined for just seven, including one double for each squad. Bliss, Benschoter and sophomore third baseman
Sydney Senay (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) collected one hit each.
Wilson capped an amazing first collegiate campaign by allowing three runs, only one of which was earned, on three hits and three walks, while striking out three opposing hitters. She finished 2022 with an 18-6 record, a miniscule 1.16 ERA, 152 strikeouts and a .200 opposing batting average.
She also drove in all four of Waynesburg's runs in the NCAA Division III tournament.
As great as this season was for the Jackets, the future looks just as bright, if not brighter, with every member of the team expected to be back next year, including Wilson, who was named PAC Newcomer of the Year, PAC Pitcher of the Year and the Most Outstanding Performer of the 2022 PAC Tournament. Seven other all-conference performers, including Senay, Waynesburg's other first-team pick, would give the Jackets a fantastic core as they look to defend their first PAC title since 1993 and get back to the national tournament.
