John Jay pitchers hurl no-hitter vs. Byram Hills

Julia Gieras, pictured here, and Maria DeGaetano combined for a  no-hitter against Byram Hills. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS

By JIM MACLEAN 

In the playoffs, you need solid pitching, and that has been the story for the John Jay varsity softball team as the Wolves rolled into the Section 1 Class A semifinals with a pair of shutout victories.

Almost perfect, in fact, that sums up what the John Jay duo of Julia Gieras and Maria DeGaetano have done on the mound for the Wolves as they combined for a no-hitter in the first game of the playoffs, a 12-0 win over Byram Hills, and followed that up with a 2-0 shutout win over Ardsley in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals.

Every team is good

“A combined no-hitter, only one walk, we’re keeping them both sharp and ready to go,” John Jay coach Theresa Swertfager-Assumma said about her pitchers after the win over Byram Hills. “We’re playing well. We’ve cleaned it up throughout the season and we just keep improving. Everyone is a good team at this point, and you have to play to win and finish every game.”

On the road at Ardsley, No. 5-seed John Jay faced No. 4-seed Ardsley and the Wolves knew they would face a tough team, but were also confident that they could play with the Panthers. The two teams had met a week earlier with John Jay pulling out a 4-0 victory.

This time, John Jay pounced early in the first inning for a couple of runs as Carys Cooper and Riley Foote came up with the big hits for the early lead. Then it was up to the pitchers on the mound and they responded by shutting down the Panthers.

Gieras pitched five innings, allowing just one hit and striking out seven, including her 100th career strikeout, even though she is only a freshman in her first year on varsity.

DeGaetano came on to finish it up, shutting down the Panthers in the last two innings as John Jay moved on to the semifinals. Cooper had two hits to lead the way at the plate, including a double. McKenna Foote also had a double and an RBI for the Wolves.

Bella Barry connects for a second inning triple to ignite a four-run rally.

In the opening round of the tournament, John Jay hosted No. 12-seed Byram Hills and wasted no time moving on. Gieras started the game and pitched the first three innings, with DeGaetano came on in the fourth inning to pitch two innings before the game was halted by the mercy rule as John Jay wrapped up the 12-0 victory.

It was the final home game for the seniors, and Bella Barry delivered as she drilled a triple to ignite a four-run rally in the second inning to get the Wolves started.

“I love this team so much, I just don’t want to go home because this team means so much to me,” Barry said after her final home game. “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves, just in the mindset to keep winning, we don’t want to lose and think we can make it really far this year. We’ve got a really good team and we’re pushing ourselves.”

In addition to the triple from Barry, Elise Templeton had a single that scored two runs to give John Jay the 4-0 lead after two innings. The Wolves added another run in the third inning as Cooper drilled a single and DeGaetano had an RBI single to make it 5-0.

Laney Daly lays down a bunt for a hit.

The Wolves added two more runs in the fourth inning as senior Laney Daly led off with a bunt single and ended up on third base after a throwing error. Charlotte Bender then drove her home with an RBI triple, and she scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-0.

Fifth inning rally

John Jay finished it off in the fifth inning as Barry led off with a single, followed by a single from DeGaetano, and a two-run single from McKenna Foote. Claire Doherty then singled and Natalie Sacco had an RBI single. Riley Sacco drove in the final run to make it 12-0.

With the two wins, John Jay moves on to the semifinals where the Wolves were scheduled to face No. 1 seed-Somers on the road Thursday, May 28. The Tuskers had defeated John Jay twice during the regular season, with the last game being a 1-0 setback for the Wolves. The winner will advance to the Class A championship game Sunday, May 31, at North Rockland High School.