See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
By Joseph Staszewski
Brooklyn Daily
The youthful James Madison squad got a taste of what it is like to play against one of the elite teams in the Public School Athlete League. It ended up being a sour mouthful that will stick with its returning core.
Top-seeded defending city champion Construction used a six-run third inning to break up an eventual, 10–0, five-inning, run-rule win in the Class A softball semifinals last Saturday at the College of Staten Island.
The Knights team, which has just two seniors on the roster, was making its first final-four appearance since 2011. Madison beat No. 4 Susan Wagner 5–1 in the quarterfinals to get there this year behind a one-hitter from ace Isabella Gerone.
“Now they see what they have to work for,” said Madison coach Thomas Mobilia. “They are going to work harder, but they have to look back at this game and just learn from this game.”
The Knights had a chance to make it a contest in three innings. Construction leaped ahead 2–0 in the first on RBI hits by Britney Rodriguez and Amy Pirozek. Madison missed opportunities to score the next two innings. It left first and third with one out and the bases loaded with two outs in the second. The Knights stranded senior captain Cheyenne Tatesure, who tripled, at third with one out in the next frame as Rodriguez, who allowed two hits and struck out six, was able to dance around trouble. Samantha Mendelsohn had the other Madison hit.
“We didn’t come around with our hitting,” Tatesure said. “Everyone kind of had our heads down in the beginning. We kind of got down on ourselves too early.”
The Red Hawks didn’t give Madison another chance to get back into the game. Gerone was nearly out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam when Daniela Isabella smacked a two-run triple down the left field line. Jenasez Alves walked to load the bases and freshman second baseman Lizul Portugal lined a grand slam over the left field fence to give Construction a 10–0 lead. Mobilia isn’t used to seeing his ace get hit that hard.
“They hit her pretty good,” the coach said. “That’s the best I think anybody had done against her this year. Give credit to them.”
Tatesure said her team didn’t play many teams the caliber of Construction during the season and the Knights run to the Brooklyn A division title. She knows she is leaving the program in good hands with seven starters returning.
“They were a young team,” Tatesure said. “Now they will work together and maybe pick up some good players next year too.”