Cheryl Lopez didn’t even get to see the final play of the incredible game she helped orchestrate. The Tottenville sophomore ace was hydrating herself on the bench when the teammate Victoria McFarland singled and Samantha Mattsson came all the way around from first to score the season’s biggest run.
“I wasn’t even paying attention,” Lopez said with a laugh. “I was drinking and [left fielder Jillian Giuffre] shoved me off the bench.”
Part of her was just happy it was finally over. Lopez shut out defending champion James Madison, 1-0 in 10 innings, in the PSAL Class A softball city title game Saturday at St. John’s University. Sweat was glistening on her face and the rhythm of her breathing had quickened. But Lopez was determined not to show just how spent she was.
“I was definitely getting tired,” she said. “I just wanted the game to end already. It felt like forever.”
Lopez was pitching her fourth game in five days. She tossed a no-hitter in five innings against Francis Lewis in the semifinals Thursday and gave up just a run to McKee/Staten Island Tech in the quarters a day earlier. It was a magical week for the transfer from Notre Dame Academy.
“She’s just amazing,” Tottenville coach Cathy Morano said. “She doesn’t show an ounce of nerves. She was pitching until she won the game. … Three games and she got stronger and stronger.”
What made it all the more remarkable was that these were really the first big games of Lopez’s career. She never pitched in do-or-die situations in her one season at Notre Dame Academy. Last week, though, the fate of Tottenville, the city’s premier program, was in her hands.
“She didn’t even look tired,” Mattsson said. “She didn’t look nervous or nothing.”
The Pirates fell to the Knights in last year’s final and were bent on revenge. Lopez didn’t share the same sentiment since she wasn’t on the team. But as the year wore on, she came to adopt her teammates’ plight.
“I’m so close to them,” Lopez said. “I’m so glad we won it for them, because it meant so much to them. I’ve only known them for a few months, but it feels like I’ve known them all my life.”
In the process, Lopez went toe to toe with Madison senior Kayla Hill, probably the city’s best pitcher. Knights coach Jeff Meltzer pulled no punches when it came to how he thought the game was won.
“It just came down to Cheryl Lopez controlled our hitters, all the big hitters for us,” he said. “We couldn’t get anything going. I give her all the credit in the world.”
Next year, Lopez will be one of the faces of Tottenville along with battery mate Jennifer Palase. It’ll be her legacy she’ll be defending instead of the one of seniors Mattsson, McFarland and Nicole Palase. There’s little doubt from anyone wearing purple about how she’ll do in that regard.
“She’s gonna be great the next two years,” McFarland said.