Box Score Softball
Commonwealth Conference Championship
Lebanon Valley 8, Stevenson 1

Tournament Central
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ANNVILLE, Pa. - Lebanon Valley won its first Commonwealth Conference title since 2008, slugging past Stevenson 8-1 to clinch an NCAA Tournament berth on Sunday.

The Dutchmen (32-5-1) ran the table as the top seed on their home field, beating Hood and Alvernia on Friday and Saturday before dispatching of the fifth-seeded Mustangs (22-21), who had won back all the way through the loser's bracket to reach Sunday's final.

LVC will learn its NCAA fate Monday morning at 10 a.m. in a live selection show streamed on NCAA.com. The Dutchmen will be making their third NCAA Tournament appearance and first since earning an at-large berth in 2010; they had previously made it in 2008 after winning their first CC crown, also at the LVC Softball Park.

"It was fun and sit back and watch them celebrate. They've been a great group all year long," said head coach Stacey Hollinger, the CC coach of the year who was tasked with preparing to face a hot-hitting Stevenson team. "We try not to even think about the other team. Let's just take care of our business, our at-bats, how we play defense."

Tournament most valuable player Sam Derr threw another gem, scattering five hits while getting plenty of run support led by freshman catcher Emily Johnson's third-inning grand slam.

Lead-off hitter Tessa Deardorff went 2-for-4 and scored three runs, capping a superb weekend that saw her reach base on eight of her 10 plate appearances and score six runs, while Allie Hartman drove in a pair of runs going 1-for-2 with a walk and first-inning sacrifice fly to give LVC an early lead.

Johnson picked a perfect time for her first collegiate home run, blasting the first pitch she saw over the left-center fence after LVC loaded the bases on Deardorff's hit, a Hartman walk, and Kelli Valle's single. That put the Dutchmen comfortably ahead 5-0.

"It hasn't sunk in," Johnson said. "I can't even believe that happened. It's an awesome feeling."

The Valley added two insurance runs in the fourth when Derr reached on an error to score Katie Deardorff and then came across on Hartman's double to the gap.

Stephanie Ayres drove in Stevenson's lone run, scoring Kaitlyn Seger with a two-out single in the fifth, but Derr canceled it out with a sixth-inning double to bring in Tessa Deardorff from first to put the Mustangs on the brink. After giving up a lead-off single in the seventh, Derr induced three straight outs to clinch the title.

Derr, who went 3-0 in the tournament, gave up the one unearned run to improve to 22-4 this season. She struck out three and did not allow a walk. Stevenson combined three pitchers, with starter Briana Pichalski (7-11) taking the loss with four earned allowed. Stevenson had four errors, including two on the first two at-bats in the first to allow LVC's first run to score.