John Jay vs Fox Lane and Mahopac

John Jay began the week on Monday, March 27 in a cold rain in Lakeland. The Wolves lost 17-9 and then endured more chill at Fox Lane on Thursday. In this, Coach Steve DelMoro thought his girls were a little preoccupied with the weather. “Off the bus, I feel like we were worried about being cold,” he said. “We didn’t warm up well and it kind of trickled down from there.”

A 12-0 defeat said as much. “It comes down to being ready to go,” the coach lamented.

The girls went down 1-2-3 in the first, and Fox Lane did not. Hannah Getman drew a walk, Sienna Greco reached on an error, and Sydney Hurwitz’s one out single drove in two.

Even so, John Jay looked like they might answer back in the second. Carys Cooper lined a lead off single, got two second on a throwing error, but was left on third with Sophia Rodriguez striking out the side.

Emma Klares did keep pace with her counterpart, though. Weathering another error, the starter was able to get out of the second unscathed.

But unfortunately she could not overcome more errors in the bottom of the third. After Gabby Noar singled, Valentina DeLuca’s dropped fly ball resulted in another unearned run, and John Jay trailed 3-0.

There was no reply in the top of the 4th, and Fox Lane continued to ignore the weather. A double by Jordynn Killion, was followed by a Noar triple and singles by Grace Cleveland and DeLuca.

The score was now 5-0, and Fox Lane sealed the victory with two more in the fifth and four in the sixth.

Still, DelMoro did see some bright spots. “We fought. We made some good plays in the field, and Emma and Julia (Neumann) did great pitching,” he said.

DelMoro was also happy that eighth graders Riley Foote and Cooper both got singles. Unfortunately, the end of the week wasn’t going to get any easier. A strong opponent in Nanuet arriving on Friday, he was hoping home field might be an advantage. “They have a long bus ride and we don’t,” he said. “Who knows, anything can happen.”

Crossing the river or not, John Jay scored on a walk off passed ball and defeated the Golden Knights by a score of 4-3.

John Jay vs Mahopac

On Monday, April 3 John Jay was enjoying spring break and got up early for a 12 noon start versus Mahopac. Unfortunately, facing Ava Lichtenberger in the circle was no holiday for the Wolves.

Her dominant performance pitched her team to an easy 8-2 victory and dashed John Jay’s hopes of building on the exciting 4-3 victory over Nanuet on Saturday.

Riley Foote got the complete game and gave up only one earned run, while striking out five. She also had three hits and two crucial RBIs in the fifth. The deciding sequence went to Maya Nelsen. She led off with a walk, advanced to second on a passed ball, was moved over to third by Bella Barry and scored the winning run on another passed ball.

Mahopac, on the other hand, didn’t wait that long to get started. Sam Pellegri stroked a single, Emma Behun, Ava Lichtenberger and Camdyn Wilson walked and a single by Alex Wanner gave the visitors a 2-0 lead.

John Jay had no reply in the bottom of the inning and logistics and trouble from above didn’t do the Wolves any favors. Jamie Peragallo lofted a fly ball to center, and Brenna Doherty wasn’t used to playing the sun from this vantage point. “She’s usually in left field,” said Coach Steve DelMoro. “I moved her over.”

The ball dropped and then the umpires played their part in John Jay’s undoing. After Emma Klares got Emily Biagini on strikes, Wanner’s ground ball to second had Josie Scott putting the tag on Biagini and tossing onto first for out number two in DelMoro’s estimation.

The safe signal given instead, the coach asked for a second opinion at home, but the call was not overturned. Lichtenberger then made no apologies and ripped a triple to deep center for a 4-0 lead.

Not tired out by the legwork, the Mahopac starter struck out five of the next six batters, and her offense scored three in the fourth to take an 8-0 lead.

Still, John Jay looked like they had an answer in the fourth. Laney Daly and Nelsen walked, and Carys Cooper reached on an error to load the bases with nobody out. No problem, Lichtenberger struck out Doherty and Klares and made easy work of Josie Scott’s comebacker to the mound.

So after so much mastery, how badly did Maya Nelsen want to break through against Lichtenberger in her final turn. “Really bad,” the third baseman didn’t hold back.

After Daly reached on a bunt, Nelsen got her pitch and smoked a triple that DelMoro saw coming. “I knew their outfield was playing in a little,” he said. “I looked like the gap was wide open, and Maya is best when she’s hitting that opposite field gap.”

Doherty drove her in with a sacrifice fly, and the respectable final score was in line with the way John Jay has been competing, according to DelMoro. “I don’t think we’ve been overmatched by anyone,” the coach assured.