John Jay Moves to Finals with Win Over Somers

Scroll to end for photos

After jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning in the Section One semifinals, the Wolves were looking at a collapse in the bottom of the fifth at Somers. Second and third with nobody out in a one run game, Julia Gieras definitely had her hands full in the circle, and even worse, the freshman couldn’t pull from past performance on such a big stage. But her battery mate could not tell.

“She carried herself great, like she’s been here before,” said Carys Cooper, and stomping out the threat led to four more runs in a 7-2 victory over the top seed.

The game began with much less fanfare, though. Elise Templeton chopped a bouncer to third and the first out looked on the way. Not to be, Keira Griggs threw high, and the leadoff runner stood at second.

A ball in the dirt then put Templeton at third but a swinging strike out by Charlotte Bender seemed to get Somers back on track. Instead, the ball got past Brooke Olivier, Templeton scored, and Bender reached first.

Emily Boyle pressed on nonetheless. However, a strikeout of Cooper included a wild pitch, and John Jay had another runner in scoring position. In stepped Riley Foote and she bounced one up the middle for a 2-0 game.

The throw home got away from Olivier, and John Jay had another runner 60 feet away. Nothing fancy, Marie DeGaetano’s grounder to short brought in the third run and there were no complaints from the John Jay side.

So on the docket went Gieras. “Prior to the game, she was a little nervous,” said Cooper. “That’s expected.”

Nonetheless, the starter got a pair of ground balls from the Peanamanda’s. Julia’s she snared but Gianna’s was too high a hop to third for McKenna Foote to get the out. The freshman proceeded to steal second and got to third on Katie Cole’s ground out to second.

One out to escape the jam, Gieras got what she wanted when Caitlin Fitts popped to short. Unfortunately, the ball carried and Laney Daly was unable to put the squeeze on.

Maggie Lawton did so on a liner to right, and John Jay returned to get the run back. Not quite, Boyle had settled in. Two strikeouts and a grounder sent Gieras back to center stage.

She was just as good. A fly out to Templeton in center and two ground balls gobbled by Bender put the ball back in Boyle’s mitt. In and out, two ground balls and a strikeout had the Tusker continuing her dominance.

The bottom of the inning and Gieras did the same. Although, a pair of lead off hits elevated the drama first. She got Gianna Peanamanda and Cole on strikes and McKenna Foote ate up another grounder at third.

Boyle didn’t let the near miss bother her, though. With a little help from Alyssa Pirraglia diving stop at second, Boyle registered two more fly outs and another zero

Of course, Somers never says die, and a double deep into left by Keira Griggs said as much. The third baseman then stole third, and Kaleigh Conti’s single up the middle made it a one run game.

Still work to do, Gieras remained up to the task. She got Olivier on strikes, and Pirraglia on a hot shot back to the box.

Onto the fifth, John Jay still had no answer for Boyle. Three up, three down and the Peanamanda’s were ready to create chaos. Julia got the ball past a drawn in Daly, stole second and Gianna’s ground ball resulted in an error by Foote at third.

On came Cole, the moment unfolded with an off speed two strike pitch. The shortstop bounced back to Gieras, she held the runner at third and got the runner at first.

One out, Fitts struck out swinging and Pirraglia’s grounder to second had the coach keeping the mastery straight forward. “She trains for this everyday,” said Theresa Swertfager. “I believe in her. I believe in the pitch I give her, and that she’s going to give me that pitch.”

No time to exhale, John Jay quickly had Somers gasping to start the sixth. Cooper and Riley Foote singled and DeGaetano moved the runners up with a grounder to third.

McKenna Foote obviously had insurance on her mind but proceeded with caution. “Trying to be aggressive, I’m still making sure I’m not swinging at pitches that are going to be called balls,” she said.

An 0-2 count resulted nonetheless and the pressure was on. “Kind of outside, I waited on it a bit,” she said, and the bat got enough ball to score the fourth run on a grounder to second.

4-2, Gieras enjoyed the prosperity. Two strikeouts and a ground out and John Jay wasn’t done. Templeton reached on an error, and the overthrow put her on second.

Another run out there, Bender went back to the basics with an RBI single. “We were prepared and we delivered,” said the second baseman.

Cooper seconded the motion. Her single deflected off Boyle and DeGaetano kept it in the infield too. Her slow roller forced an errant throw and McKenna Foote closed the scoring with a single up the middle.

Three outs to go, relieving is never complicated for Swertfager. “We have a lot of depth, and if we need to go with someone else, we go with someone else,” she said. “It’s whoever is working and whoever is getting the outs.”

Gieras was the obvious answer. She started by striking out Pirraglia. But there was no escaping the potential disarray of the Peanamanda girls, which put Foote just a few dangerous feet away. “There’s a lot of adrenalin so you kind of get used to it,” she said from the hot corner.

Exactly, Julia smoked one at the Wolf. “I felt it hit my glove,” said Foote. “I looked down, I saw it was in my glove. Amazing.”

She also fielded the final out and left Cooper in awe. “I’m so proud of us,” she concluded.

Click image for Photos

Crowd Shots