FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – A three-run sixth inning made the difference on Friday afternoon for the Manhattanville University softball team as the second-seeded Valiants rallied to defeat No. 1 Farmingdale in Game 5 of the Skyline Conference Championship Double Elimination Finals. The win sends the Valiants into Saturday just one victory away from securing a second-straight Skyline Conference title.

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As has come to be expected when the two rivals meet, stellar pitching took center stage as Charli Shinstine (Encinitas, Calif./San Dieguito Academy) and Allie Stanya squared off. The Rams got to Shinstine early, but it was the Valiants that dealt the final blow in the sixth.

With two away, Amaya Esparza (San Diego, Calif./Granite Hills) stepped into the box and with a 2-2 count, hit a roller to the right side between the two Ram fielders. Alyssa Cowen fielded it, but with Samantha Stolfi off the bag after trying to make the play, it was a foot race to the base between the Ram second baseman and Valiant catcher. Esparza beat the tag, giving Manhattanville just its third hit of the game.

The team found life following the play as Rachel Coleman (Lake Forest, Calif./Mission Viejo) drilled a triple to right center to put the Valiants on the board. Juliana Parkes (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada/Belmont Secondary) then hit a grounder to Bailey Hammock, with the Farmingdale third baseman unable to field it cleanly to allow the tying run to score and the inning continue. Samantha Reyer (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) took advantage of the extra chance, tripling out to right center to plate Parkes with would proved to be the winning run.

Staked to her first lead of the day, Shinstine thanked her offense by setting down the side in order in the seventh to secure the win, her 15^th of the season, to keep the Valiants undefeated in postseason play.

Shinstine worked around some early location issues to settle in and go the distance to send the Valiants to Saturday. The graduate arm allowed two runs on two hits and three walks, striking out seven.

One of those free passes immediately came around to make the Valiants pay as Jenna Giliberti led off the game by drawing a walk. The senior outfielder moved up a pair of bases on a wild pitch and sacrifice bunt before scoring on Shinstine's second errant pitch of the day. While Hammock also made her way up to third, Shinstine found her rhythm and got the strikeout pitch she needed to escape the early jam.

The arms minimized mistakes through the majority of the contest. Parkes notched the first hit for either side in the game with a single in the second, but was left stranded at first. An inning later, Olivia Fasce (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) led off for Manhattanville with a walk and later stole second, but she too was unable to advance any further as the game reached the middle innings.

Farmingdale looked poised to get their half of their started on the right foot as the ball left Giliberti's bat in the leadoff position, but Sarah Harker (Irvine, Calif./Irvine) robbed the speedster of an extra basehit with a diving grab out by the right field foul line.

OKAY 7!

A beaut of a catch by Harker highlights a scoreless inning in the field for the Vals. pic.twitter.com/G2o6yPztCx

— Manhattanville Softball (@Valiantsoftball) May 10, 2024

After three straight scoreless innings, the Rams finally got through to Shinstine again. A leadoff walk was once again the catalyst, this time Ashley Toro drawing the base on balls. After being moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt, Giliberti came up again, but this time made sure nobody was catching her ball as she smacked a double over everyone's heads to the left field fence. Toro came home to double the Ram lead before the Valiants worked their late-inning magic to pull off the win.

With offense few and far between, five different batters accounted for the Valiants' five base hits. Fasce accounted for the other Valiant single.

Up Next
The Valiants are back at Farmingdale tomorrow with a conference title on the line. Manhattanville faces the winner of tonight's elimination game between Farmingdale and No. 5 Old Westbury. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m., with a deciding Game 9 to follow if the Valiants fall in the early game.

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