CCC softball wins fourth Region III Championship in a row

CORNING, N.Y. (WETM) – Corning Community College softball is heading back to nationals.

The Lady Barons swept visiting Hudson Valley Community College Thursday night in a best-of-three series in the NJCAA Region III B finals punching their ticket to Tennessee next week. Corning bested Hudson Valley 3-1 in the first game and surged ahead for the win in game two 8-4.

CCC (28-12) was paced by Region III Championship Series MVP Jenna Plue who had two doubles and two RBI in the decisive game two. Teona Cruz had two hits including the final dagger-a two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning lifting Corning past Hudson Valley for the title.

CCC trailed in both games Friday but found a way to win. With just three players back from last year’s NJCAA National Runner-Up team, Corning proved they are a very dangerous team.

“Mainly the energy shift,” Corning sophomore Jenna Plue said. “Every little thing that happened our way we kind of capitalized that and kind of overexaggerated our energy on that…with close games like this, it can go a really long way.”

Down 1-0 in the first game after a first inning walk scored a run for Hudson Valley, Corning scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a two-RBI double by Plue giving them the lead for good. Plue went the distance on the mound in the first game and had 11 strikeouts and allowed just two hits for Corning.

The Lady Barons returned the favor and raced out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the second game courtesy of a Plue double to right centerfield. Hudson Valley (20-10) then took the lead 2-1 off of an Izzy Radcliffe RBI single. But CCC stormed back to secure its fourth consecutive crown.

Corning scored three runs in the fourth inning of game two followed by four in the fifth putting the game out of reach. Lily Callahan and Brianna Greenlaw added triples for CCC to go along with an RBI each at the plate. Elmira Notre Dame grad Olivia Switzer went the distance and earned the win for the Lady Barons with five strikeouts on 10 hits and four earned runs.

“This is always the goal every year, to get to the national tournament and win our region,” Corning head coach Stacy Johnson said. “The kids pulled it off, we had three returners from last year’s squad. I think we were underdogs in the beginning until people figured out that we’re not rebuilding we reloaded. The kids just really stepped up and played so well today.”

Next up for CCC is the NJCAA Softball Tournament in Chattanooga, Tennessee May 22-25 against an opponent to be determined. The NJCAA Selection show is this Sunday on the NJCAA Network at 10 am and can be streamed here: https://www.njcaa.org/network/landing/index

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