 "Photo: Alan Dovell/ The Towerlight")
After defeating Georgia State in their opening game, 3-1, the Tigers were in position to make it to the CAA Championship game. After a hiccup against James Madison, they were able to rebound and knock out the Panthers by beating them for the second time in two days, 5-1, to get to that championship game.
But it was the Dukes who prevented Towson from its first conference championship in the school’s history, winning 11-1, thanks to a huge second inning. Following a single run in the top half of the first inning, James Madison used seven hits and three Towson errors to knock out top pitcher Shannon Johnston. JMU shortstop Ashley Burnham provided the knockout blow, with her RBI single.
At that point, Towson was in a 10-0 hole and had only had five batters come to the plate. Their superstar pitcher was no longer in the game and the season appeared to be over.
“I think we matched up well with JMU in both games. In the first one, it was 1-0, and you can’t win when you don’t score,” Johnston said. “But in the second game, their ace was fresh, she hadn’t pitched the day before and the ball just bounced their way.”
Dukes pitcher Meredith Felts, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, earned the win by only giving up the one run on just four hits. Johnston took the loss, but finished her record-setting season 22-10, just the second pitcher in school history to win 20 games in a single season.
Stef Streets, Mindy Bean and Johnston were each named to the CAA All-Tournament Team. Streets drove home a team-high four runs in the four games, Bean hit .500 and Johnston pitched 21.1 innings and only gave up eight earned runs, while starting every game the Tigers played in the tournament.
“As a pitcher, you want the ball every time you can. I want it. I wish I could pitch every game all season long, so it was nothing too difficult for me,” Johnston said.
Towson only graduates one starter and returns their two record setters, Bean and Johnston, for next year. This also marks the first time that Hofstra hasn’t won the league championship in the last eleven seasons.
The door is open for new teams to step up and become this year’s James Madison, the fourth seed in the CAA’s, to win the conference tournament.
“We’ll be very competitive next season. I think that the experience that we all gained this season going all the way to the CAA Championship Game is going to carry over for us next year. I’m going to go out on a limb and say we’re going to win it all next season. I’m going to do all I can to bring it home my senior season. I want that ring,” Johnston said.
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