Lewis will need the slick fielding of shortstop Samantha Lallave against Madison. (Robert Cole)
Will Tottenville coach Cathy Morano call Nicole Palase’s number Thursday? (An Rong Xu)
NYPost.com’s PSAL softball beat writer Marc Raimondi breaks down the Class A semifinals set for Thursday at Lincoln HS in Brooklyn.
SCHEDULE
3:30 p.m. – No. 2 James Madison vs. No. 3 Construction
5:30 p.m. – No. 1 Tottenville vs. No. Francis Lewis
James Madison Knights
Head coach: Jeff Meltzer
Record: 17-1
Player to watch: Gina Gerone
Construction Red Hawks
Head coach: Marco Migliaccio
Record: 15-1
Player to watch: Britney Rodriguez
Outlook: The old guard versus the new guard. The veteran Knights against the upstart Red Hawks. The two teams didn’t play each other this season in a non-league game, but in many ways this is a rivalry. Many of the players on both teams play for the Brooklyn Cyclones travel program over the summer. They all know each other. Bragging rights will be on the line.
But really it’ll be about so much more than that. Madison is trying to get to its rightful place – the PSAL Class A city championship game. The Knights won their first title last year, but getting to the final isn’t just an accomplishment for them, it’s a tradition. The black-and-yellow clad girls have punched their ticket to the title game umpteen times and now they have the added motivation of trying to defend their crown.
On the other hand, this is all new to Construction. The Red Hawks are the babies of this final four. They have never been here. The program is just four years old at the varsity level and this is only its second season of play in the ‘A’ league. There are still people around the city saying, “What the heck is Construction?” The Red Hawks have made a name this season, but can put their Ozone Park school on the map by advancing to the championship game at St. John’s University.
That field was the site of Madison ace Kayla Hill’s finest performance to date. She shut down mighty Tottenville for eight innings and the Knights broke the Pirates’ streak of six straight titles. Everyone in Coney Island on Thursday will know that runs will be hard to come by, which is why the Madison lineup, led by slugging shortstop Gina Gerone, needs to hit – better than it did in a 4-1 quarterfinals win over Environmental Studies.
The Red Hawks order, which can mash and small ball, has proven itself. But all eyes will also be on the youngest pitcher in these semifinals: Construction’s Britney Rodriguez. She has a tendency to get amped before big games, but if she remains calm it could be a long day for Madison hitters – the tiny lefty has nasty stuff.
She represents the new wave. Hill and Madison are PSAL tradition. One will get a chance for glory; the other is headed home.
Tottenville Pirates
Head coach: Cathy Morano
Record: 19-0
Player to watch: Nicole Palase
Francis Lewis Patriots
Head coach: Bryan Brown
Record: 15-1
Player to watch: Samantha Lallave
Outlook: Seven years. That’s how long it took Francis Lewis to return to the semifinals after being a regular deep in the playoffs back in the early 2000s. And awaiting the Patriots? Tottenville, the team Lewis defeated to win the 2002 PSAL city title.
The two teams haven’t met much recently, but there is one thing for certain: The Patriots are coming in as heavy underdogs. Then again you could say they were underdogs in the quarterfinals against Susan Wagner, too. And all they did was bang out seven runs on eight hits in the second and third innings to take a commanding, 7-0 lead. It was Lewis’ best offensive performance of the season, even flabbergasting coach Bryan Brown, who had to ask if that was really his team out there.
The Patriots are going to need that kind of inspired performance Thursday against the city’s best team – minus the six runs they gave up in the latter three innings of the game to Wagner. Lewis has to play the flawless defense it did through the first four innings Tuesday and Priscilla Lallave’s pristine pitching in that spurt as well.
Because if Tottenville sees the Lewis of the final three innings of the quarterfinals, it could be a long – or in this case, a short – day for the team from Queens. The Pirates capitalize on mistakes better than any team. OK, they probably do everything better than any team. You’d be hard pressed to find better hitters than Victoria McFarland and Nicole Palase and both of them sit right smack in the middle of a good Tottenville order.
Then there’s the pitching of Palase, Cheryl Lopez and Mary Ryan. In a week in which Tottenville is playing three games in three days and four games in five days, pitching depth is necessary and coach Cathy Morano has that luxury. Outside of a few hiccups in a surprisingly close, 3-1 win over McKee/Staten Island Tech in the quarterfinals Wednesday, the Pirates’ ‘D’ is usually spotless.
This group is also hungry – they want badly to avenge that loss to Madison last year and the championship is just a win away. Lewis, though, is playing loose. The Patriots are still young and enthusiastic. Could that be enough to knock off the powerful Pirates?