SUNY New Paltz softball captured the SUNY Athletic Conference regular-season title, and the Hawks will host the postseason tournament in their final appearance before departing for a new league.
The four lowest-seeded qualifiers — No. 3 Buffalo State, No. 4 Fredonia, No. 5 Oneonta, No. 6 Oswego — will play single-elimination games on Thursday morning. The winners advance to the afternoon play with No. 2 Cortland and No. 1 New Paltz, starting the double-elimination portion of the bracket.
Three games are set for Friday and one (or possibly two) for Saturday. The champion gets the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Div. III tournament, although the Hawks would have a shot at an at-large bid as well.
The early weather forecast calls for partly cloudy conditions Thursday and Friday and a growing chance for showers on Saturday.
New Paltz is enjoying one of its best seasons since the founding in 1978. The Hawks have matched the 17 conference wins by the 2024 tourney champs. The 30 overall wins trails only the 2024 team (36-8) and 2023 team (31-13).
New Paltz, coached by Joe DiPietro, leads the conference in batting average (.358), extra-base hits (111), home runs (18), triples (14), doubles (117), and ranks second in hits (348; trailing only Cortland’s 355) and RBIs (222, trailing Cortland’s 232). In the circle, New Paltz leads all staffs with ERA (1.76), most strikeouts (221), fewest hits allowed (175) and fewest runs allowed (80). Defensively, New Paltz leads with a .976 fielding percentage and fewest stolen bases allowed (21), and its four passed balls trails Cortland (3) by one.
New Paltz boasts four of the top 13 hitters in the league. Junior first baseman Ella Sharrock of Selden ranks first in average (.488), hits (59), doubles (18) and homers (9). Monroe-Woodbury grad and senior outfielder Kelsey O’Brien ranks third in batting (.441), second in hits (52) and third in runs (38) and triples (4). Junior shortstop Ava Thys of Fairfax, Va. (.385, 17 RBIs) and junior infielder Maddie Anderson of Sayville (.381, 19 RBIs) are also contributing.
New Paltz has won the SUNYAC tourney just once (2024) since the event was founded in 1984. Cortland leads the way with 17 titles, followed by Brockport (6), Geneseo (5), Oneonta (4) and Buffalo State (4). Last year, New Paltz was swept out by Buffalo State and Oneonta.
The three-day event will be May 7-9 at the Mary Gray Deane Field. Cash-only ticket sales will be sold on site: $7 adults; $5 children; SUNYAC students with ID are free.
SUNY New Paltz heads for the New Jersey Athletic Conference for most sports, starting with 2026-27 fall season.
kmcmillan@th-record.com
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SUNYAC softball tournament
Thursday, May 7
Game 1 – No. 6 Oswego (18-8, 11-7) vs. No. 3 Buffalo State (25-11, 12-6), 10 a.m. (single elimination)
Game 2 – No. 5 Oneonta (13-25, 11-7) vs. No. 4 Fredonia (17-21, 11-7), noon (single elimination)
Game 3 – Owego-Buffalo State winner vs. No. 2 Cortland (22-15, 13-5), 3 p.m.
Game 4 – Oneonta-Fredonia winner vs. No. 1 New Paltz (30-8, 17-1), 5 p.m.
Friday, May 8
Game 5 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 10 a.m.
Game 6 – Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, noon
Game 7 – Game 6 winner vs. Game 5 loser, time TBD
Saturday, May 9
Game 8 – Game 7 winner vs. Game 5 winner, noon
Game 9 (if necessary) – Game 8 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 2 p.m.
Download SUNYAC Sports Network app on Roku to watch on TV; also SUNYACsportsNetwork.com
Mid-Hudson SUNYAC participants
New Paltz – Jenna Carmody (Fr., OF, Tri-Valley grad; 32 games, .438, 0 HR, 14 RBIs); Alex Frenza (Sr., RHP/DH, New Paltz grad; 24 games, .178, 0 HR, 7 RBIs); Kaitlyn Gordon (Fr., OF, Marlboro grad; 36 games, .310, 0 HR, 13 RBIs); Leah Gunsett (Soph., RHP/DH, Marlboro grad; 8 starts, 1 relief, 6-1, 2.13, 42 K); Kelsey O’Brien (Sr., OF, Monroe-Woodbury grad; 38 games, .441, 3 HR, 29 RBIs); Lauren Serrao (Sr., 2B, Valley Central grad; 35 games, .302, 0 HR, 14 RBIs); Lindsey Serrao (Soph., OF, Valley Central grad; 9 games, .000, 0 HR, 0 RBIs); Ava Smith (Fr., 1B, Minisink Valley grad; 5 games, .333, 0 HR, 0 RBIs)
Cortland – Molly Farley (Soph., RHP, Chester grad; 13 relief games, 0-1, 5.62, 19 K)
Buffalo State – Erin Paolilli (Sr., IF, Arlington grad; 36 games, .370, 0 HR, 23 RBIs)
Fredonia – None
Oneonta – Sophia Camacho (Soph., OF, Our Lady of Lourdes grad from Newburgh; 37 games, .278, 1 HR, 5 RBIs); Emma Moore (Soph., C/utility; Valley Central grad; 18 games, .273, 0 HR, 8 RBIs)
Oswego – Mackenzie Carlson (Jr., OF/IF, Livingston Manor grad; 20 games, .315, 1 HR, 8 RBIs); Ryin Perico (Fr., 3B/1B, Minisink Valley grad; 26 games, .319, 2 HR, 17 RBIs)
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: SUNY New Paltz wins softball title, will host SUNYAC tournament
Reporting by Ken McMillan, Middletown Times Herald- Record / Times Herald-Record
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