GREENCASTLE, Ind. - May 15, 2022 – A sensational season for Hiram College softball, unfortunately, came to an end on Sunday at DePauw Tigers Field, as the Terriers fell to No. 10 Berry College Vikings, 6-1, in the Greencastle Regional Championship Game. The Terriers advanced to the championship game with a 5-4, walk-off victory earlier on Sunday against the 8th-ranked DePauw Tigers in an elimination game.
 
For their efforts in the Greencastle Regional, freshman Darian Kanno and sophomores Angel Santellan and Abriana Schwartz were named to the All-Regional Team.
 
Santellan led the Terriers at the plate over their four games, batting .500/.571/.667 with two doubles, two walks and three RBI, while Schwartz batted .308/.308/.615 with a double, home run, run scored and two RBI.
 
In the circle, Kanno went 1-1, striking out nine batters in 18.0 innings pitched, while adding three hits, two doubles, a walk, two runs scored and an RBI at the plate.
 
Hiram wraps up the year with a 26-16 (13-3 NCAC) record, the third-most wins in a season in program history. The Terriers, North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament Champions for the first time since 2011, earned their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2011 and advanced all the way to the regional final. Six Terriers earned all-conference honors, including player and newcomer of the year, while Head Coach Scott Pohlman was named the NCAC Coach of the Year for the second-consecutive year.
 
GAME 1: HIRAM 5, #8 DEPAUW 4
Though the Tigers struck first in the top of the first, Hiram quickly answered in the bottom of the fame.
 
Grace Smith led off the top of the first for the Tigers with a walk, and Goose Moore followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Katie Mathies then laid down a bunt single, bringing home the game's first run and giving DePauw a 1-0 lead.
 
Kanno, getting the start for Hiram, struck out Emily Timberman for the first out of the inning, but with another walk, Paige Price loaded the bases as the Tigers looked for more.
 
However, Kanno got Drew Bratcher to ground into a fielder's choice, and Jade Meija Wick to fly out to left to strand all three base runners, and keep DePauw's lead at just one.
 
And in the bottom of the frame, Hiram quickly answered to tie things up and take the lead. Kylie Perez gave Hiram their first base runner with a one-out double, and a batter later, Kanno walked to put two on with two out for Angel Santellan.
 
Santellan knocked an RBI single, scoring Perez to even the score at one-all, and Leah Valdez drew a hit-by-pitch to load the bases for Giselle Chavez, who reached on an error to score Kanno and give Hiram a 2-1 lead.
 
With the lead in hand, Kanno settled down in the circle, working around a leadoff single in the second, a one-out walk in the third and an error in the fourth to keep the Terriers in front, 2-1.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, Abriana Schwartz extended Hiram's lead with a two-out, RBI double to center, scoring Melissa Galindo, who drew a hit-by-pitch and moved to second on Hunter Whitton's groundout.
 
But with a pair of RBI singles, DePauw tied the score at 3-3 in the top of the fifth, before taking the lead in the sixth.
 
Moore drew a leadoff walk for the Tigers and moved to second on Abby Pyburn's sacrifice bunt, and third on Timberman's groundout. Price brought Moore home with an RBI single to cut Hiram's lead down to just one, 3-2, and a batter later, Caleigh Cramer tied things up with an RBI single of her own.
 
And after Hiram couldn't answer in the bottom of the fifth, Tigers first two batters reached, forcing Hiram to make a call to the bullpen.
 
Jeskari Rodriguez relieved Kanno and got Mathies to pop out, but Timberman poked a single through the left side, giving the Tigers a 4-3 lead. Rodriguez kept the Tigers from extending their lead any further though, striking out Price and getting Bratcher to fly out to again strand the bases loaded.
 
Hiram went in order in the bottom of the sixth, but Rodriguez kept things close, working around a one-out single to pitch a scoreless seventh and give the Terriers a chance to tie or walk things off in their final at-bats.
 
Kersten Brayton got Schwartz to ground out for the first out of the inning, but back-to-back singles by Perez and Giselle Bahena put the game-tying and winning run on base with just one out.
 
Up next, Kanno smacked an RBI double, scoring Perez from second to even the score at four, and bringing Santellan up to the plate. The Tigers would intentionally walk Santellan to set up a force at home, but it wouldn't matter, as Valdez, down in the count 0-1, laced a single over the head of the second baseman to score Bahena and give the Terriers a 5-4 victory.
 
Rodriguez (11-7) earned the win, pitching two scoreless innings of relief, while Kanno allowed four runs on six hits over 5.0 innings pitched.
 
Brayton (2-2) took the loss for DePauw, allowing five runs, four earned, on nine hits over 6.1 innings pitched.
 
Kanno, Perez and Santellan each turned in multi-hit performances, with Kanno going 2-for-3 with a double, walk, run scored and RBI, Perez going 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, and Santellan going 2-for-3 with a double, walk and RBI.
 
Valdez tallied the walk-off hit, going 1-for-3 with an RBI, while Bahena scored the game-winning run, going 1-for-3 with a run scored.
 
With the win, Hiram advanced to the regional championship game, where they'd need two wins to force a game seven and win the region against the 10th-ranked Berry College Vikings.
 
GAME 2: #10 BERRY 6, HIRAM 1
After Blair Hall pitched a 1-2-3 top of the first, the Vikings struck first in the bottom of the frame. Katie White drew a leadoff walk, and after back-to-back flyouts by Riley and Anna Jackson, Morgan Frye singled to left center, scoring White to give Berry a 1-0 lead.
 
Frye then moved to third on a wild pitch before coming around to score on Shelby Daniel's single to make it 2-0 Vikings.
 
Berry would add another run on Sydney Moroney's RBI single in the bottom of the second to extend its lead to 3-0, before Kanno settled in, pitching scoreless frames in the third, fourth and fifth.
 
In the top of the sixth, Hiram got on the scoreboard, as Galindo singled to center and stole second, moved to third on Schwartz's sacrifice, and scored on Perez's sacrifice to cut Berry's lead to 3-1.
 
However, the Vikings would answer with three runs in the bottom of the sixth, before Hannah Gore worked around a one-out walk to close the door in the seventh and finish off the regional title for the 10th-ranked Vikings.
 
Kanno (11-7) took the loss for Hiram, allowing six runs on nine hits, while Hall (8-2) earned the win for Berry, allowing just three hits over 6.0 innings pitched.
 
Valdez, after hitting the walk-off in game one, led the Terriers at the plate, going 2-for-3, while Galindo went 1-for-2 with a run scored.
 
Hiram wraps up the year at 26-16, the third-most wins in program history, coming off their first NCAC Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament berth since 2011.