John Jay wins rematch with Fox Lane in softball slugfest

Riley Foote drills a double for the Wolves. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS

By JIM MACLEAN 

One week later and the same two teams were back at it as Fox Lane softball hosted John Jay on Saturday morning, May 9.

It was the second of a home-and-away series of Brooke D’Aleo Memorial Games as the two teams honored the memory of their former John Jay varsity and club softball teammate.

Last week it was a pitchers duel as both teams managed just one hit in a 1-0 victory for John Jay. This time around both teams were determined to get the bats going early and they did, scoring five runs in the first inning, but in the end it was John Jay pulling away for a 7-3 victory over the Foxes.

The difference-maker

The one bat that made the difference was John Jay junior Riley Foote, as she connected for three hits and drove in six runs for the Wolves. She started it off with a double in the first inning to put the Wolves up 3-0, she added another two-run double in the fourth, and then had an RBI single in the seventh.

“We wanted to definitely get the bats going and I was just trying to do anything to get the runners moving and help out the team,” explained Foote. “We’re playing well, our pitching is awesome, our defense is really good, and the bats are on fire.”

 Avery Genovese delivers an RBI single to bring the Foxes within three.

John Jay set the tone in the first inning as Elise Templeton led off with a walk, Laney Daly followed with a single and Carys Cooper loaded them up before Riley Foote came up with her first double of the game.

Fox Lane answered right back in the bottom of the first as Jojo Kerwar led off with a single, Sofia Rodriguez walked, Sammi Saldutti singled, and Nora Antonaccio delivered with a two-run double for the Foxes to make it 3-2.

It stayed that way until the fourth inning when John Jay rallied as Templeton led it off with a single, Daly followed with a bunt single, and Riley Foote drilled another double to score them both and make it 5-2.

John Jay added a run in the fifth as McKenna Foote, Bella Barry and Claire Doherty each had a hit to load the bases, and Templeton hit a sac fly to make it 6-2.

Fox Lane answered in the sixth inning as Kerwar led off with another single, Rodriguez and Antonaccio walked, and Avery Genovese delivered an RBI single to make it 6-3. It could have been more, but Barry came up with a running catch in the outfield to help John Jay get out of the inning. The Wolves then added one more run in the seventh as Templeton and Cooper walked before Riley Foote finished her big day with an RBI single.

Julia Gieras hurled a complete game for the win.

Complete game winner

Julia Gieras pitched a complete game for John Jay to record the win, while Sofia Rodriguez started off for the Foxes on the mound. Rodriguez had hurled her 500th career strikeout for the Foxes earlier in the week in a win over Lakeland and the Foxes had come in on a roll with three-straight wins, but the Wolves were hotter as the Foxes now stand at 8-8 overall on the season.

“We had a nice little thing going, a little winning streak, and then we were stymied again by John Jay,” Fox Lane coach Mike Olivier said of the Foxes. “Sofia was great as usual, she’s dealing and ready for sectionals. We’ve had four or five one-run losses, we’re right there, and have four more games left to finish strong heading into the playoffs.”

Wolves shut out Ardsley

John Jay kept up the momentum as the Wolves hosted Ardsley on May 11, and scored a 4-0 victory with Maria DeGaetano recording the shutout win. It was the sixth-straight win for the Wolves as John Jay improved to 12-4 overall.

“We’ve been focusing on our hitting and we made some adjustments that were nice to see,” explained John Jay coach Theresa Swertfager-Assumma. “We’re meshing together really well. Our pitching is doing a great job, Riley has been amazing and we’re improving up and down the lineup, and we’ve been very smart running the bases, getting ready for sectionals.”