John Jay Wins 2-1 Pitcher’s Duel versus Somers

Brooke Slideshow

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On Thursday May 1, John Jay and Somers battled to a 1-1 tie after seven and Riley Foote had the first crack at settling the score in the eighth. “It was a nice sound,” said the second baseman. But her game winning home run wouldn’t have been possible without the grit that John Jay sent to the mound.

“No matter how big the situation is, she is as cool as the other side of the pillow,” said Coach Steve DelMoro of Maria DeGaetano and her complete game 2-1 victory.

Of course, the duel began when Emily Boyle took the mound for Somers. She did allow Elise Templeton to reach third after leading off with a bloop behind first, but a fly out, strikeout and ground ball to short silenced the first inning threat.

Onto the bottom, DeGaetano also had to navigate a little traffic. Julia Peanamanda’s bunt down third left no one covering first, and she moved to second on Katie Cole’s walk.

An infield fly by Caitlin Fitts broke the momentum, and Templeton and DeGaetano kept it that way. The catcher threw Peanamanda out at third, and the pitcher struck out Boyle.

More trouble in the second, Boyle still had John Jay missing. She opened the inning with a strikeout of Bella Barry, and after Laney Daly singled and Sophia Cheng was hit by a pitch, the Tusker got Natalie Sacco and DeGaetano on strikes.

The trend then continued when Boyle traded her sling for her swing. The pitcher doubled to left, and Keira Griggs added a runner on a DeGataeno walk. Not giving in, the Wolf got Kayleigh Conti on strikes, Victoria Morel on a fly ball to right, and Mia DiChiaro went down swinging.

From there, Boyle called it a day on the mound, but Somers didn’t lose anything with DIChiaro’s entrance. A pop up and two grounders and the turnover put DeGataeno up against it again in the third.

After Alyssa Pirraglia flew to deep center, Peanamanda smoked an opposite field drive to deep left and didn’t stop until reaching third. So a run 60 feet away, DeGaetano stuck to her strategy. “I was trying to go high,” she said, and the location hit was good enough to send Cole down swinging.

A fly ball to center by Fitts maintained the score and gave way to DiChiaro. Up to the task, the Tusker retired the side easily after giving up a lead off walk.

DeGaetano's turn, she faced only three Tuskers but had help. With one out, Boyle lined a single, and kept running. Interfered at first in her estimation, the umpire didn’t see it that way, and Boyle was easily tagged out at second.

The inning ended on a Griggs strikeout, and the scoreboard would finally be put to use. Starting with Natalie Sacco, she put theory into practice. “I’ve been working on taking it to the opposite field,” said the right fielder, and the lefty lash down third got all the Wolves howling.

A bloop single over third by DeGataeno didn’t quiet things and neither did Erin Samuelson’s sacrifice bunt. But Cole’s play at short kept things from getting completely out of hand. Her diving stop on Templeton’s grounder in the hole did save a run, and DiChiaro contained the rest of the damage by striking out Carys Cooper.

Somers had an answer, though. Morel dropped a bloop double on the left field line, and Pirraglia’s two out single up the middle brought in the run.

All tied in the sixth, John Jay went quietly, which had DeGaetano making the most of the situation. “As the game gets more intense, I get more focused,” she said, and the Wolf responded by striking out the side.

A donut for Jay in the seventh just brought more of the same from DeGaetano. Three more strikeouts in the books, her coach in awe. “She is never fazed,” said DelMoro, and the table was set for Foote.

No hits so far on the day, Foote felt she was losing the mental game so she centered herself. “I was just looking for something to drive up the middle,” said the game changer.

Over the center field fence, Foote cued up DeGataeno. A leadoff single to left by Morel wasn’t what the pitcher had in mind, though.

No problem, the winning pitcher turned a force at second on a DiChiaro comebacker, baffled Pirraglia by changing speed and height and popped up Peanamanda near the Tusker dugout. Cooper raced in and made the snare, which had Foote seeing the bigger picture of their heated crosstown rivalry. “We love competing with them,” she concluded.