Sports

Pearl River Softball Gets Top Seed

Defending state champion Pearl River is the top seed in the Section 1 Class A playoffs

Pearl River needed to battle to close out its regular season with a victory over Tappan Zee Monday, rallying for three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning of a 4-2 victory.

It may have been the perfect way to go into the playoffs.

"They are a great team," Pearl River senior shortstop Gemma Mahoney said. "They always play us hard. We knew this was going to be a tight game coming in here. The pressure was tremendous out there and that’s what we’re going to feel in the playoffs."

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Pearl River (19-1) found out more about the journey it will face in the Section 1 Class A playoffs in Wednesday's pairings meeting. The Pirates are the No. 1 seed and they will open at home Friday against the winner of Thursday's outbracket game between No. 16 Nyack and No. 17 Peekskill at Nyack. Pearl River swept two regular-season meetings from Nyack.

In a way, early-season rainouts may have helped Pearl River prepare the playoffs. Both games against Tappan Zee were pushed back, giving the Pirates a run of six extremely competitive games to finish the season -- Tappan Zee twice, Albertus Magnus twice, Horace Greeley and North Rockland. The Pirates won five of those games, falling only to Class AA power North Rockland.

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Pearl River was a battle-tested team to begin with, returning much of last year's state championship squad, but the strong competition late helped prepare the Pirates for the playoffs.

"I think the last six, with the rainouts and stuff, we got to have six tough games in a row at the end here, which kind of paid off," Pearl River coach Mike Carlacci said. "It’s a nice way to go in with some tough competition to get you ready."

If Pearl River wins Friday, the Pirates will advance to the quarterfinals Tuesday, May 31. The semifinals are Thursday, June 2 and the championship game will be held 5:30 pm. June 4 at North Rockland. Pearl River would be at home for every game except the championship.


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