Rain cancels final day of Centennial softball championship

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The final day of competition of the 2009 Centennial Conference Softball Championships was cancelled due to a massive rain storm sweeping across the eastern seaboard of the United States. By virtue of holding the highest remaining seed heading into Sunday’s competition, Muhlenberg College was named the CC champion and received the automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Haverford College was scheduled to play the winner of the Muhlenberg and Gettysburg College game. The first game on Sunday started at 9 a.m., but a consistent rain slowly escalated into a downpour as the game progressed and halted play with the Mules leading 1-0 after four innings. After waiting out the rain, the condition of the field deteriorated to the point of being unplayable with even more precipitation on the radar. All softball AQs to the national playoffs must be determined by 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Muhlenberg earns the trophy and national bid as per the CC Softball Championship Guidelines, Rule III, which states “If the championship tournament cannot be completed by the end of Sunday, and if all teams have completed one contest, the highest remaining seed will receive the Conference AQ. Otherwise, the top seed as determined by the regular season will receive the automatic qualifier.”