ANNVILLE, Pa. - The Lebanon Valley College softball team ended their 2002 season with a split against Freedom Conference power King's College this afternoon. LVC won the first game 8-3 and then stumbled in the second, 5-2. The Valley finish the season 17-19 overall, while the Lady Monarch's enter this week's Freedom Playoffs at 31-6-1.
 
Pitching her final game with the Valley, senior Sam Rill (Lebanon, Pa./Annville-Cleona) tossed three K's to pick up her eighth win of the season (8-10). The two-time first-team Commonwealth All-Star allowed just three runs and scattered five hits over seven frames to end her career with a 24-36 record.
 
The first game, however, belonged to junior Amanda Potteiger (Halifax, Pa./Halifax) who went 3-for-4 with three RBI. She plated senior Kendra Atkinson (Olyphant, Pa./Lakeland) in the third inning to put the Valley ahead 3-2. After the Monarch's knotted the game in the top of the third, Potteiger went to work again in the fourth, catalyzing a four-run inning for the Valley with an RBI single to score pinch runner sophomore Kristen Crouse (Columbia, Pa./Columbia). Later in the sixth, "Potty" singled home Atkinson once more to change the bulbs to 8-3.
 
Earlier, the Valley took a 1-0 lead in the first after Sam Rill tripled home Ilyse Resnick (Holland, Pa./Council Rock). Rill finished the game going 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Freshman Sarah Genewski pitched three innings of relief for freshman Megan Adams. Adams was roughed up for six hits and three runs. Genewski took the loss, giving up seven hits and five runs.
 
It was also a special day for Michele Dlugosz who broke the NCAA Division III record for most steals in a career with 153. She passed Jo Ann Heckhorne's 150 that was set during 1991-94 seasons while attending The College of New Jersey. Dlugosz singled and stole second base despite a perfectly placed throw by freshman catcher Kelly McManus (Langehorne, Pa./Neshaminy) of LVC.
 
In the twilight, King's scored twice in the first inning and once in the third and fifth innings to pull ahead 4-0. The Valley's scoring came in the fifth when freshmen Gina Battistelli (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar) and Crouse scored on a throwing error by junior shortstop Jess Harvey.
 
Both catcher Kelly McManus and Crouse went 2-for-3. Sophomore Jess Cooney (Rockledge, Pa./Abington) took the loss after lasting four innings. She allowed four earned runs and six hits. Freshman pitcher Melissa Boyda went the distance for the win, spreading eight hits and striking out one batter.
   
Lebanon Valley will be the site for the 2002 Commonwealth Conference Playoffs, which takes place this Friday and Saturday, May 3-4. The two-day double-elimination tournament will see the likes of Moravian College (No. 1), Elizabethtown College (No. 2), Albright College (No. 3) and Susquehanna University (No. 4). The first pitch is slated for 11:00 a.m. on Friday with Moravian taking on Susquehanna.