After Lab Museum’s second-round win against FDR on Monday, coach Charles Jessup made the Gators stay for an hour at Central Park to practice. It wasn’t a punishment or anything. He just didn’t like the way his team performed on a grass surface after playing the majority of its games on turf this season.
“We’re not exposed to the dirt,” Jessup said. … “You gotta go to the ball, be aggressive. It’s not going to come to you.”
The coach looked like a psychic when his team’s quarterfinal games was played on grass Thursday at Randall’s Island. No. 7 Lab Museum still wasn’t completely crisp, but it was more than enough in a 22-7, four-inning run-rule win against No. 18 A. Philip Randolph in the PSAL Class B softball quarters. Lab meets No. 11 Queens HS of Teaching in the opener of the double-elimination semifinals Tuesday at a yet-to-be-determined neutral site.
“We had some trouble with it,” Jessup said. “They didn’t play sharp, but we made up with it with the hitting.”
And there was plenty of that. Lab (14-2) put 13 runs up in the fourth inning to close the door on Randolph (12-4), the team that shocked No. 2 InTech in the second round Monday. Every starter in the Gators’ lineup had at least one RBI and senior captain Allison Schulze (2-for-2, three RBIs, two runs) crushed the game-winning home run in the fourth.
“She’s been struggling a bit with her hitting,” Jessup said. “That pushed us over.”
Lindsay Bernstein went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and four runs scored, Sara Batka went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored and Sarah D’Amico went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs scored in addition to a solid outing in the circle. Kaylee Cimino went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored and Diamond Diaz went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
“She tried out for the baseball team,” Jessup said of Diaz. “I personally think she could have made it, but we inherited her.”
Luckily for the Gators they did. Without her and the other hot bats, Lab might not be in its first semifinals during Jessup’s five-year tenure.
“I gotta give it to them,” he said. “They were very focused.”
No. 5 Jamaica 6, No. 13 Beacon 1: Je Lisa Rhodes gave up one run on four hits and struck out nine in seven innings and also went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored to lead Jamaica (15-1), which meets No. 1 LaGuardia in the double-elimination semifinals opener Tuesday at a neutral site.
Rhodes struggled with her control last year, walking 105 batters in 86 innings. This year, she has made a complete turnaround, walking just 40 in 71 innings. She is 12-1 with a 1.38 ERA and 145 strikeouts in the regular season and is known for her great velocity.
“She hasn’t had that many walks this year at all,” Jamaica coach Mike Pallisco said. “She’s got it under control. I guess she found her release point and held onto it.”
Joanna Scott had a home run and Bria Tull went 1-for-2 with three RBIs for Jamaica, which is the lone team making a second straight appearance in the final four. Pallisco said that doesn’t mean anything unless the Beavers can break through to the championship game, played about a block away from their school at St. John’s University.
“It’s nice as long as you get to the next step,” he said. “You don’t want to get there and not win.”
The key, he said, is simple. When Jamaica was eliminated last year by Telecommunications, the Beavers shot themselves in the foot with errors.
“If we can keep our errors down,” he said, “we can beat anybody.”