Sports

Pearl River Softball Faces New Challenge -- Stay On Top

Pearl River won the first state softball championship ever for a Rockland County school last year. The Lady Pirates return six starters from that team to defend their title.

Pearl River earned the first Rockland County school to win a state softball championship a year ago.

Now the Lady Pirates face a different challenge -- battling expectations and a schedule full of opponents who want nothing more than to take down the defending champs.

They will do it with most of the key players and six starters in all returning from the Class A state championship team that went 24-3 in 2010.

Find out what's happening in Pearl Riverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I have high expectations," said O'Flynn, an all-state selection as a junior who working her way back from an off-season knee injury. "I wouldn’t want to go lower. It’s hard when you are on top to stay on top. We have to keep that same mentality. We just have to do it one at a time – sections first, then regionals, then states.

"This year, everyone is gunning for us."

Find out what's happening in Pearl Riverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Flynn's health will play a huge role in Pearl River's success this season. She earned all-state honors as a junior by going 18-3 with a 0.85 ERA and throwing shutouts in the state semifinal and championship games. She was also a Louisville Slugger/NFCA Third-Team All-American.

Then O'Flynn tore the ACL and meniscus and "cracked my MCL in pieces" in her left knee, the leg she plants with, while playing Irish football in June. The injury likely cost her interest from higher level schools before she chose Division III Oneonta, but it did not cost O'Flynn her senior season. She was able to start pitching a month ago, though she is still working her way back to 100 percent.

"I’m ready to go," O'Flynn said. "I’ve been pitching for over a month. You have to ease into it. The other day, I threw to live batters. You want to slowly break it in because I haven’t played a live game in seven months."

"It’s very nice knowing, maybe she’s not fully recovered yet, but she’s getting there," senior catcher Jamie DeGennaro said. "She’s so determined. She won’t let that stop her"

DeGennaro and shortstop Gemma Mahoney complete the trio of standout seniors for Pearl River. Both were third-team all-state selections in 2010. DeGennaro batted over .400 with 30 RBI as a junior, including a two-out, two-run double in Pearl River's 2-0 state semifinal victory over defending champion Floral Park. Mahoney, a shortstop, also batted over .400 and scored 30 runs.

"They have been with us for a long time and they have been through a very successful run here," Pearl River coach Mike Carlacci said. "Now it is their turn to be the leaders. They are a strong group personality-wise. They are a strong group playing-wise. They want to be the leaders now. They have been the players following. Now it is their turn."

Junior outfielder Kristyn Neroda and junior third baseman Amanda Hartigan return at their positions from last year. Senior Amanda Schule, primarily a designated hitter last year, takes over at first base. Senior second baseman Kaity Goldrick played a good bit in the field last year, but will be asked to hit more this season.

"We’re well-balanced," said coach Mike Carlacci. "We’re  very deep. We do everything pretty well. We field pretty well. We run pretty well. We hit well. wE pitch well. We don’t have a weakness"

Carlacci has been at Pearl River for 14 season, racking up 326 career victories on the way to finally bringing home a state championship last season. Last year will do nothing to change his approach.

"I think each year, no matter what your goal is, it’s going to have ups and downs," Carlacci said. "We approach it the same way we approached it five years ago and the same way we’ll approach it next year. You’ve got to come in and prepare yourself to do the best that this team is capable fo doing. Don’t worry about the outside things, good or bad."

Carlacci pointed to a tradition of seniors taking over when it is their turn as part of the reason for his program's consistent succes. The strong youth program in Pearl River is also a key.

"We have a good little league program," Carlacci said. "We have great community support. Our kids are starting when they are six, which is a big benefit."

"I think because it is very important to our town," DeGennaro said. "From an early age, we all play hard. When we get to this level, we know what to expect. We know we have to play hard."

Now they have to do it with more of a target on their backs than ever.

"We know that we have to get it done every game," DeGennaro said. "We can’t take it easy any game. We have to go out and try our hardest because of the success we’ve had."

Pearl River opens its season with a home game 4 p.m March 31 against Suffern, then begins league play at home against Tappan Zee April 5.

"We realize that teams will come and be ready to play us," Carlacci said. "We have to match that same readiness."

2011 PEARL RIVER SOFTBALL ROSTER

Seniors

Jamie DeGennaro (C)

Kaity Goldrick (2B)

Gemma Mahoney (SS)

Katie O'Flynn (P, 2B)

Amanda Schule (C, 1B)

Juniors

Amanda Hartigan (3B)

Nicole Leote (C, OF)

Shannon McKiernan (OF)

Katherine McLaughlin (2B, OF)

Kristyn Neroda (OF)

Freshmen

Sam Alicandri (SS)

Caroline Kardashian (P, 1B)

Mandy McCarthy (P, 3B)

Diedre O'Malley (C, OF)

Erin Woods (2B)

Head coach: Mike Carlucci

Assistant coach: Kathryn Moore

Scorer: Jo Mosella

@font-face { font-family: "Calibri"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }

2011 PEARL RIVER SOFTBAL SCHEDULE

Date

Day

Opponent

Site

Time

March 31

Thursday

Suffern

Home

4 p.m.

April 5

Tuesday

Tappan Zee

Home

4 p.m.

April 8

Friday

Walter Panas

Home

4:30 p.m.

April 16

Saturday

NYSSCOGS Softball Festival

vs. Burnt Hills

Herkimer

2:30 p.m.

April 16

Saturday

NYSSCOGS Softball Festival

vs. Niskayuna

Herkimer

4:30 p.m.

April 19

Tuesday

Harrison

Away

4:30 p.m.

April 27

Wednesday

Clarkstown North

Away

4 p.m.

April 29

Friday

Clarkstown South

Home

4 p.m.

April 30

Saturday

Pelham

Home

11 a.m.

May 3

Tuesday

Nyack

Away

4 p.m.

May 5

Thursday

Nyack

Home

4 p.m.

May 7

Saturday

Clarkstown South

Away

3:30 p.m.

May 9

Monday

Nanuet

Home

4 p.m.

May 11

Wednesday

Nanuet

Away

4 p.m.

May 13

Friday

East Ramapo

Away

4 p.m.

May 14

Saturday

Horace Greeley

Away

2 p.m.

May 16

Monday

Tappan Zee

Away

4 p.m.

May 17

Tuesday

Albertus Magnus

Away

4 p.m.

May 19

Thursday

Albertus Magnus (Senior Recognition)

Home

4 p.m.

May 21

Saturday

North Rockland

Away

11 a.m.

Schedule is subject to change


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here