Wildcats rally to end FAMU’s quest for MEAC softball title
Taylor Rosier and her FAMU teammates put up a gallant effort against the Wildcats, forcing a decisive game last Saturday before falling 11-5.
Photo courtesy of the MEAC
Special to the Outlook
ORMOND BEACH – Championship Saturday at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Softball Tournament saw Bethune-Cookman go from one out away from suffering a no-hit loss in the first game to being one hit away from winning the championship via the run-rule.
Welcome to the 2019 softball season in a nutshell.
A young but resilient Wildcat squad that handled everything thrown at it during the regular season did it one more time Saturday, recovering from a 1-0 loss in the opening to game to defeat Florida A&M 11-5 for the program’s 10th conference championship at Ormond Beach Sports Complex.
BCU (26-29) also clinched its 11th NCAA tournament berth.
The repeat also gave head coach Laura Watten her seventh championship at BCU. This was BCU’s first repeat since the 2010-12 teams won three in a row.
Sasha Killings, an outfielder converted into a catcher, was named Most Outstanding Player and joined by Alexis Bermudez and Cheyenne Smith on the All-Tournament team. Killings hit .313 with five RBI in the five tournament games.
FAMU (24-29) kept the Wildcats scoreless for nine innings in taking the first game and then a 2-0 lead in the second game before BCU broke through with six runs in the third, capitalizing on three Rattler errors.
After Carrington Robinson tied it, Quianah Mitchell scored on Brianna Paysinger’s single to give BCU a 3-2 lead. Paysinger would score on a three-base error, then Kaira Cabato and Kaiya Epps-Lee delivered RBI singles.
Smith had an RBI single in the fourth, then BCU expanded its lead with a four-run fifth.
Epps-Lee registered her second RBI of the game, Killings stole home, Epps-Lee scored on an error and Paysinger singled home Kayla Taylor to make it 11-4, putting BCU one hit away from ending the game early. However, the inning ended with two runners left in scoring position.
With the lead, Bermudez give up a pair of leadoff home runs with no damage as she picked up the win in relief.
The first game was a masterful pitcher’s duel that saw Bermudez give up just three hits and one unearned run – and still lose. FAMU’s Kaiya Brown took a no-hitter into the seventh, only to have Brianna Sanders break it up with a two-out single.
