BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian University is continuing its look back at its 2022-23 athletic campaign. The third entry in our second countdown of the summer – the Top 10 Stories of the Year selected by the athletic administration – is our No. 8 highlight – Moravian's softball team earning four Most Outstanding Pitcher/Player Awards during the postseason run.
Beginning with the Landmark Conference Tournament, each round of the postseason in softball honors a player and/or pitcher as the Most Outstanding Performer of the tournament. For the Landmark Conference tournament, the honor went to sophomore pitcher Madi Cunningham, who was 2-0 in the tournament with seven strikeouts and just two walks in 12 innings of action to push the Greyhounds into the championship round where they won their tenth Landmark Conference title.
When the Hounds captured the Medford (Mass.) Regional title in the opening weekend of the 2023 NCAA Division III Softball Tournament, it was freshman pitcher/right fielder Sarah DeStefano honored as the Most Outstanding Player. During the four games, DeStefano went 2-0 in the circle with a pair of victories over host No. 7 Tufts University. She allowed just one run over 15 innings with eight strikeouts, four walks and seven hits in the two contests. At the plate, DeStefano collected two hits and two RBIs.
Moravian's trip to the Cambridge (Mass.) Super Regional at No. 16 Massachusetts Institute of Technology that ended with the Hounds' first-ever Super Regional title and the program's fourth berth to the NCAA Division III Championship Finals saw the Blue & Grey sweep the Outstanding Player honors with Cunningham named the Most Outstanding Pitcher and sophomore right fielder Sage Snyder garnering Most Outstanding Player. Cunningham was 2-0 in the best-of-three series, allowing two runs on ten hits with one strikeout in 12 innings of action, and she also had two hits, a run and an RBI at the plate. Snyder was 3-for-9 in the series with two runs, a double, a homer and six RBIs that included driving in four of the Hounds' five runs in the second game of the weekend.
The number seven story in the countdown will be released on Monday, July 17.
