ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, May 19, 1996 TAG: 9605200085
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
TRENTON STATE STAR Sunny Montas is an All-American in softball, a concert pianist and a dean's list student.
If Trenton (N.J.) State wins its sixth NCAA Division III softball championship today at Salem's Moyer Sports Complex, Sunny Montas' philosophy once again will be proved valid.
That philosophy earned her a piano gig at Carnegie Hall as a high school freshman. It got her on the Trenton State dean's list four times. It helped her earn first-team All-America honors as a catcher this season. And next year it will lead her to Marine Corps officer candidate's school.
``I don't want to settle for anything other than the best,'' Montas said Saturday. ``The Marines is the hardest and toughest of the armed forces. It's not for everyone, but it's something I'd really like to try out and succeed in.''
Often Montas celebrates her success by playing the piano. Her jazz set at Carnegie Hall was a reward for winning a contest at Drew (N.J.) University. After the Lions won the 1994 NCAA title at the Moyer Complex, Montas serenaded her teammates back at the Holiday Inn-Salem.
Montas, however, isn't opposed to sharing her musical talent with opposing players. On Thursday night, she quizzed Chapman (Calif.) pitcher Christy Guidorizzi for an exam on classical music. Aside from the fact that she was trying to lend her some help, Montas really owed it to Guidorizzi. During the regular season, she broke up a Guidorizzi no-hit bid with a home run.
``It's a lot more fun to be in it when you can be friends off the field and competitive on it,'' Montas said.
Montas got turned on to the competitive world of the Marines in November when a flyer was slipped under her dorm room door. She said she meant to throw it away, but it wound up in a pile of mail. One month later, it fell in her lap.
``I looked at it again and thought it was pretty cool,'' she said.
After 10 weeks of training this summer, she plans to defer her commission to the fall of 1997. Then she'll try to become a success, again.
``She meets one goal and is ready [to] write down the next one on paper,'' said Sally Miller, Trenton State's coach. ``She wants the most out of life.''
Saturday's games
Chapman (Calif.) 2, Simpson (Iowa) 1, 11 innings: A never-before-seen bad hop and a frequently seen clutch hit by Christy Guidorizzi in the bottom of the 11th inning led the Panthers (40-8) into the championship round.
Leadoff hitter Lisa Cancilla hit a grounder at Storm shortstop Julie Langbein, but just as Langbein was leaning over to scoop it, the ball jumped six feet over her head.
``I already had that ball recorded as an out,'' said Henry Christowski, Simpson's coach. ``I had not seen a ball like that the whole tournament.''
Guidorizzi pitched a complete game, giving up seven hits and striking out nine.
Simpson closed its season with a 31-10 record.
Trenton (N.J.) State 6, Simpson (Iowa) 3: The Storm committed four errors in the top of the seventh inning as the Lions rallied to earn a spot in the championship final against Chapman (Calif.).
``Sometimes that occurs,'' said Henry Christowski, Simpson's coach. ``Perhaps we were doomed to have one of those.'' The Storm had not committed an error in any of its previous championship games. It had six against Trenton State, the only undefeated team in the tournament.
The Lions (37-3) trailed 3-2 in the fifth, but good contact hitting and a loud dugout may have gotten to the Storm as the game progressed. ``It's a collective reaction of the team,'' said Lions coach Sally Miller, who faced one of Christowski's teams as a high school player in Iowa.
Chapman (Calif.) 1, Allegheny (Pa.) 0: Jessamine Maiben put the Panthers ahead and made sure they stayed there, pitching a four-hitter and keeping her team alive.
Maiben scored the game's only run on a fourth-inning home run, the deepest hit of the series thus far. She gave up four hits in seven innings.
Allegheny finished its season with a 30-14 record.
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