Appo grad Evan Bouldin excels for Blue Hens after transfer from DSU
Bouldin was NEC Player of the Year as a DSU sophomore but aimed to test himself with Delaware
College baseball and softball have, depending on the NCAA level, reached or are nearing the postseason.
Several Delaware schools have earned the right to participate, with Wilmington University advancing to NCAA Division II playoffs in both baseball and softball and a Delaware Technical & Community College squad already poised for World Series play.
Here are where Delaware’s college teams stand and what they have upcoming in their pursuit of postseason success:
Delaware Tech softball
The Delaware Technical Community College softball team is 33-6 and will open play May 17 in the NJCAA Division II Softball World Series in Oxford, Alabama, against Black Hawk College (47-15) of Illinois. It’s a 20-team event in which DelTech is seeded 19th.
Laurel High grad Kylee Hill has been among the standouts for DelTech this year, going 17-1 with 170 strikeouts in 105 innings pitched and batting .440 as a freshman. Sophomore infielders Zoey Coco, a .460 hitter from Delmar, and Sussex Central grad Amara Cropper, batting .443, also have provided punch.
Wilmington University softball
Delaware’s 2024 state Team of the Year Wilmington is seeking its third straight trip to the NCAA Division II World Series and taken the right steps so far.
Wilmington won the CACC Tournament for the third straight year May 3 by nipping rival Goldey-Beacom 2-1. The Wildcats thereby advanced to one of the two Eastern Regionals, hosted by Goldey-Beacom.
They prevailed in dramatic fashion, beating Goldey-Beacom 1-0 on Sydney Hatch’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of the eighth for the title. That came after Goldey-Beacom, which went 40-16 this year, had forced a deciding game by scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 3-2 win.
Wilmington (35-17) now advances to the East Super Regional best-of-3 finals, which it has won the last two years, with a World Series berth going to the victor.
No. 2-seeded Wilmington visits No. 1 Pace (44-10) in Pleasantville, New York, starting with Game 1 May 15 at noon. Game 2 is at noon May 16 with Game 3, if necessary, to follow at 3.
Hatch, the first baseman out of Caesar Rodney, was among five Wildcats who made first-team All-CACC along with pitcher/outfielder Maddie Volmar, catcher Emma Zimmerman, outfielder Tristyn Stewart and pitcher Delani Sheehan out of Delaware Military Academy.
Wilmington University baseball
The Wildcats won the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament title by routing Felician 20-3 May 10 to qualify for the NCAA Division II East Regionals, which they’ll host at Stahl Field in New Castle.
It was the 10th CACC title for Wilmington and coach Brian August since 2007. The Wildcats now pursue a repeat of the 2015 team’s accomplishment of reaching the Division II World Series.
There are two East Regional tournaments in which the winners advance to a best-of-3 title showdown with a World Series berth on the line. No. 2-seeded Wilmington (36-20) is joined by No. 7 Molloy (32-17), which it plays at 11 a.m. May 15 in the tourney opener, No. 3 Felician (38-18) and No. 6 Pace (28-20).
The tournament is in the double-elimination format with the winner decided May 17 or 18.
Among key players for Wilmington have been first-team All-CACC second baseman Tyler Pirrung, a junior out of Conrad who is batting .377, and CAA Tournament MVP Brandon Grygo, a sophomore outfielder-pitcher from William Penn who is a .369 hitter.
Goldey-Beacom College baseball
A 13-12 loss to rival Wilmington knocked Goldey-Beacom out of the CACC playoffs but the Lightning has been rewarded for another stellar season.
Goldey-Beacom is one of the three teams in the other Eastern Regional pod, its fourth NCAA appearance the last five years.
The No. 4-seeded Lightning (34-19) face No. 5 Franklin Pierce (31-19) at 10 a.m. May 15 at De Sales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. The loser of that game faces No. 1 seed Jefferson (38-15) there at 1 p.m. May 15 in the double-elimination bracket, with play continuing May 16 and 17.
Among key players for Goldey-Beacom has been St. Elizabeth grad Jaden Dickerson, a first baseman/DH who is batting .312 with 10 homers and 60 RBI.
University of Delaware baseball
Six of the Coastal Athletic Association’s 12 teams advance to next weekend’s CAA Tournament and Delaware (27-23 overall, 11-13 CAA) has quite a challenge looming to make that bracket.
The Blue Hens close the regular season this weekend at Hannah Stadium against Campbell (22-28, 13-11) with games May 15 and 16 at 6:30 p.m. and May 17 at 1.
Presently situated in seventh place and two games behind the four teams tied for third place, Delaware will have to sweep the Camels or get help elsewhere to advance.
University of Delaware softball
The Blue Hens could once again not parlay a record-setting regular season, in which they won their third CAA title in four years, to tournament success as the No. 1 seeds were ousted in three games.
Delaware finished 38-16 but saw the bid for its first NCAA Softball Tournament appearance denied and now faces next year’s move to the more challenging Conference USA.
Delaware did have the CAA Player of the Year Sydney Shaffer, who smacked a UD record 18 homers, CAA Pitcher of the Year Billie Kerwood, who had a 1.59 ERA and 250 strikeouts in 194 innings, and CAA Defensive Player of the Year Mary Beth Cahalan, a catcher.
Delaware State baseball
The Hornets are coming off a 3-game sweep of Norfolk State heading into their season-ending series at Wagner. But at 7-31 overall and 6-21 in Northeast Conference games under first-year coach Pedro Swann, DSU will not make the NEC playoffs.
Delaware State softball
DSU finished third in the MEAC and won its first two conference tournament games before back-to-back losses closed a 26-23 season in which pitcher Kristin White earned second-team All-MEAC honors.
Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.
