D'Youville softball team heading to D2 NCAA tournament

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- D'Youville University's softball team is going to the NCAA tournament for the first time since joining Division II.

The Saints didn't have an easy path to winning the East Coast Conference championship. They lost the first game of the double elimination tournament against top-seeded host St. Thomas Aquinas. But they rallied to win elimination games against Molloy and Mercy before beating St. Thomas Aquinas twice Saturday in the championship round.

"We just did it with the love for each other and the love for the game," said first-year coach Shelly Hoerner, a former Canisius College player and member of the Western New York Softball Hall of Fame. "They worked extremely hard. Like I said, they bought into the system and they never gave up. ... We were three outs away from not even making the conference tournament and to now being conference champions and going to a regional, it is an unbelievable feeling."

Among the nine players from Western New York on the Saints roster, Williamsville North graduate Sarah Parzych was named most outstanding player of the ECC tournament after pitching a shutout in D'Youville's 1-0 victory to secure the championship. Summer Clark from Williamsville East was the winning pitcher in the first championship game. Also the cleanup batter, Clark had an RBI double in the 5-1 victory. Gianna Adamo from Starpoint had two hits, adding to her school-record career total. Emily Przybysz from Hamburg had two hits in the second game.

D'Youville is the No. 8 seed in the double elimination East Regional tournament and will open against No. 1 seed Pace on Thursday.

WIVB digital sports reporter Jonah Bronstein contributed to this story.