D-lightful tourney for YSU

If you didn't get out to McCune Park in Canfield this past weekend, you missed some of the most exciting softball action this area has seen in a long time.
Youngstown State hosted the Horizon League Softball Championships for the first time in the school's history and the Penguins surprised the entire field by rolling through the tournament unbeaten and claiming the championship.
If winning the title wasn't enough, the way the Penguins went about it was something else.
The Penguins went 26 innings in four games (they only needed five innings in the opener) without making an error, or even coming close to making an error.
They had the tournament's best pitcher (even though she didn't get the award) in junior Karlie Burnell and the tournament's best hitter in sophomore McKenzie Bedra (she won the award -- deservingly).
Low seed makeswin more impressive
The fact that the Penguins were the No. 6 seed in the tournament makes the win more impressive.
They also defeated the No. 1 seed, Illinois-Chicago, two straight games for the crown.
"That's what really makes it so great," said senior shortstop and team leader Tiffany Patteson. "Nobody expected us to be in the hunt for this championship.
"We knew that we had played and beaten every team in this tournament and we were ready and waiting to show what we could do."
Patteson just happened to hit the game-winning home run in the bottom of the seventh inning of the championship game that put the Penguins into the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time in school history.
"What I did, I feel that just about anyone on this team could have done," Patteson said.
"This was all about team effort and I told all of them just how proud I was of them all after the game."
Patteson, a four-time All-Horizon League pick (including three times on the first team), was selected to the all-tournament team along with sophomore Bedra and junior pitcher Burnell.
Pressure tournaments are nothing new for Patteson, a native of Guelph, Ontario. She has twice played for her Canadian National softball team in international competition.
But even playing all over the world wasn't any more exciting than watching her game-winning home run clear the fence in that final game.
"I'm sure it's something that I won't forget for the rest of my life," she said.
But even more importantly is that the Penguins are still playing and will be in the NCAA tournament this weekend.
Crew overcomeslousy weather
The tournament had bad weather all three days.
Thursday morning, the field at McCune Park was pelted by heavy rains and started four hours behind schedule.
With the remarkable work of the field crew of the Canfield Baseball Club, headed up by YSU assistant coach Gary Williams, the games were able to go on.
In less than an hour after the rain stopped on Thursday the field was playable. By Friday night the tournament was back on schedule, even though the last game on Friday didn't begin until 10:30 p.m. and ended just before 1 a.m.
Williams said that the three main people that worked on the fields were Chuck Yeaton, Ted Clark and Ken Brayer.
The rest were Canfield Baseball Club Board Members and everyone was donating their time.
"It is just unbelievable that this tournament was able to get in five games Thursday after all that rain," said YSU athletic director Ron Strollo.
"My hat is off to this crew for the remarkable job they did all week long here.
Strollo was also excited about the Penguins winning the crown.
"It's been a great weekend with the women's track team winning the title and now the softball team and throw in our co-Gateway Conference football title and it's been one great year," Strollo said.
Pete Mollica covers YSU athletics for The Vindicator. Write to him at mollica@vindy.com.