MILTON, Mass. - Endicott College will be the top seed for The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) softball championship, which begins with opening-round games on Monday, April 26. The Gulls (25-10-1 overall) earned the top seed by virtue of their 18-5-1 conference record.
A pair of single-elimination opening round games will take place Monday. Monday’s tournament action will include #5 seed Anna Maria (19-19 overall, 15-9 TCCC) hosting #8 seed New England College (13-23, 12-12), and #6 seed Curry (18-19, 13-11) hosting #7 seed Nichols (16-21-1, 12-11-1). First pitch for both games is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. The winners of Monday’s games will advance to the double-elimination phase of the tournament which begins Tuesday, April 27.
The winner of the New England College vs. Anna Maria contest will face #4 seed Salve Regina (20-12, 15-9) at 2:30 p.m. on the campus of Endicott College. The winner of that game will face top-seeded Endicott 20 minutes following the conclusion of the first game.
The winner of the Nichols vs. Curry matchup will face #3 seed Western New England (22-17-1,16-7-1) at 2:30 p.m. on the campus of University of New England. The winner of that game will face #2 seed UNE 20 minutes following the conclusion of the first game.
TCCC tiebreaking procedures were used to sort out two ties. Salve Regina and Anna Maria finished tied for fourth place with 15-9 records. In step one, the teams split their regular-season doubleheader. In step two, records in games against other TCCC teams were compared, starting at the top of the standings and working downward. The teams had identical records against the top three seeds, but Salve Regina gained the advantage by going 2-0 against sixth-seeded Curry, as opposed to 1-1 for Anna Maria.
A similar process was used to snap a deadlock between New England College and Roger Williams, both 12-12, for the eighth and final seed. In step one, the teams split their regular-season doubleheader. In step two, records in games against other TCCC teams were compared, starting at the top of the standings and working downward. The teams had identical records against the top three seeds, but NEC’s 2-0 record against fourth-seeded Salve Regina was slightly better than RWU’s 1-1 mark.
Tournament action will continue through the week, culminating with the championship game on Saturday, May 2. The TCCC tournament champion will earn an automatic berth in the upcoming 2010 NCAA Division III Softball Championship.
View the Tournament Pairings here
View the Tournament Brackets here