Taylor Sarcone made her name last year as a freshman with her pitching and moxie. The Susan Wagner windmiller got hit above the eye by a comebacker against Tottenville in the first inning during the regular season and came back to throw a gem. Afterward, it was clear that the only thing bigger than the welt on her head was her heart.
This season, though, she has graduated from being a solid pitcher and spray hitter to being a feared slugger in the PSAL. Last week in a 27-10 win against Cardozo, Sarcone had a home run and seven RBIs. She had a homer and five RBIs against Petrides on Monday and had the go-ahead, two-run double in a rain-halted game Wednesday against Port Richmond.
“She’s the girl we want up in a big spot,” Wagner coach Marco Altieri said. “She’s been hitting the ball very hard. She can drive the ball. She has a very quick bat.”
He moved Sarcone from the No. 2 hole into the three spot this year with fine results. Sarcone is batting .440 with two home runs, 19 RBIs and 16 runs scored in eight league games. All those numbers are up from last year’s totals despite her having played in half the games. Altieri said that it wasn’t that Sarcone didn’t have it in her in 2009. It was her spot in the lineup.
“We preach line drives up the middle,” he said. “We don’t want to see them swing for the fences. … I think she’s smart enough to know that the approach of a two hitter is different than the approach of a three hitter.”
In the circle, Sarcone has been effective. She is 7-1 with a 3.98 ERA, a number that is up from last year, on a team ranked No. 6 in the city and No. 3 in the PSAL by The Post. But the entire PSAL is scoring more runs now that the distance between the pitching rubber and home plate has been moved from 40 feet to 43 feet. Still, Sarcone doesn’t wish to use that as an excuse. She was upset with herself during the Cardozo game.
“My pitching wasn’t on today,” Sarcone said. “You gotta tough it out.”
Altieri said she is extremely hard on herself and it seems like the issues she had against Cardozo were gone against Port Richmond. She gave up just three runs, two earned, on three hits in 4 1/3 innings before the rain came.
“She has the ability to shut teams down,” Altieri said. “She’s her own toughest critic.”
But the truth is she is just a sophomore and getting better all the time. Sarcone has only been taking pitching lessons for two years and the sky is the limit for her as a hitter. Altieri said that because her swing is so level and she rarely misses on cuts he can’t envision her having a prolonged slump.
“She’s got a long way to go,” he said.