By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director
MONT ALTO, Pa. – After an outstanding regular season and strong run through the PSUAC Tournament the Penn State Mont Alto softball team punched their ticket to the 2021 USCAA Small College World Series that will take place at Heidl Field from May 16-20.
The United States Small College Athletic Association (USCAA) selects the top eight schools in the country for a double elimination tournament to crown a champion and PSUMA are slated as the No. 6 seed. The bracket can be found on the USCAA Softball Championship website.
The No. 6 seed Penn State Mont Alto will enter the tournament with a 21-9 overall record as they square off against the No. 3 seeded St. Mary College of the Woods. The Pomeroys enter with a deceiving 16-16 record, but are a perennial contender for a national championship as they search for their 13th in program history.
What you need to know before action kicks off on Monday:
- This is the Nittany Lions first bid into the USCAA Small College World Series under Coach Newell. Mont Alto has steadily improved each season under his watchful eyes, and he was recognized as the 2021 PSUAC Coach of the Year.
- Mont Alto has a powerful squad featuring many underclassman including PSUAC Newcomer of the Year McKenna Sas (Canyon County, Calif. / Canyon County) and PSUAC Pitcher of the Year Kirsten Dell (Hanover, Pa. / New Oxford). Sas had a nice performance in the PSUAC Championship came with a double and hard lined single. She leads the team with a .510 batting average, which includes 50 hits, 17 doubles, five home runs and 33 RBIs.
- The Nittany Lions enter the tournament hitting .330 as a team and will look to string hits together to win each inning. Other players to watch for Mont Alto include starting catcher Chelsea Cover (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro Area) who is slashing .341, Chloe Sullivan (Spring Grove, Pa. / Spring Grove) who's bat has heated up down the stretch (.346), as well as the freshman duo of Skye Herring (Pine Grove, Pa. / Pine Grove Area) and Destiny Hall (McConnellsburg, Pa. / McConnellsburg).
- PSUMA will look for clutch performances out of the pitching circle from Dell, Katie McCauslin (Biglerville, Pa. / Biglerville), Emily Bittinger (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro Area) and potentially Haley Dawson (Greencastle, Pa. / Greencastle-Antrim) who features outstanding movement out of relief.
- Players to watch for St. Mary College of the Woods include Summer Rocha (7-8, 2.83 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 57 strikeouts) and freshman infielder Josie Lord who leads the team with 39 hits 23 RBIs, and a .554 slugging percentage.
- All games of the USCAA Small College World Series will be available to live steam on the Mont Alto schedule page throughout the week.
