Pearl River Softball Rallies Past Tappan Zee

Pearl River softball coach Mike Carlacci believes in putting the pressure on the opposition with his team's speed.

He even believes in doing it after the approach doesn't work, which is what happened when Gemma Mahoney was gunned down at the plate trying to score with none out in the fourth inning Monday against Tappan Zee.

The Pirates kept running anyway, and that aggressiveness sparked a three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth that gave Pearl River a 4-2 victory over at home in the final game of the regular season.

"With no outs, if I had it to do again, I probably would have held her up, but we like to be aggressive, so I was taking a chance there," Carlacci said of the play in the fourth inning. "It pays off more than it doesn’t."

"We are a very aggressive, running team," Mahoney said. "We always take chances, no matter if they (turn out) good or bad. That's how we play."

The approach helped Pearl River improve to 19-1 heading into the Section 1 playoffs. The pairings meeting is set for Wednesday morning, with the first round to be played Friday. The Pirates will likely be the first or second seed, giving them home field advantage through the championship game.

"It’s always a journey," Carlacci said. "We're still not quite where we want to be in a couple of categories. Overall, we’ve had a fantastic regular season to build off. Now we look what we need to get working toward Friday."

Tappan Zee gave Pearl River a fight for the second time in eight days, having lost at home to the defending state-champion Pirates, 2-0, May 16.

"I told the girls, for five innings we held our own," Tappan Zee coach Gene Kousoulas, who is a Pearl River graduate. "They earned it but we also gave it to them a little bit.

“We can compete with any team. It’s as simple as that. We’ve got to get over that little hump of (having problems) when someone gets on and work our way through those tough innings."

Pearl River pitcher Katie O’Flynn was able to handle those situations all game long. O’Flynn struck out 11 and gave up two runs only six hits, but she gave up a base runner in every single inning until the seventh.

“They fight offensively,” Carlacci said. “Katie was throwing well and they did a good job fighting.”

Senior catcher Colleen Pagnani did more than fight, driving a pitch from O’Flynn over the left-field fence for a home run in the top of the first to give Tappan Zee a 1-0 lead. The damage could have been worse, but Kaity Goldrick made a tough pay on a grounder by Regina Argenzio’s and threw her out with the help of a good stretch by first baseman Amanda Schule just before Pagnani’s homer.

O’Flynn helped the Pirates tie the game up in the bottom of the second with her bat, leading off with a double to deep center field. Courtesy runner Erin Woods came in to score on a sacrifice fly to left by Nicole Leote.

Tappan Zee also got some offensive production from its pitcher, freshman Paulina Gutkin, who was 2-for-3 in the game with an RBI and a stolen base. She also struck out eight and gave up  only four hits, walking one. The RBI came in the top of the fourth when she singled up the middle to bring home Dee Sinanaj, giving the Dutchies a 2-1 lead.

Pearl River had its shot to tie in the fourth when Mahoney reached on a two-base error. Jamie DeGennaro drove a single to left field, but Andrea Wedemeier made a strong throw home and catcher Pagnani made an even better tag.

“I wasn’t sure if she got the tag in or not,” Carlacci said. “It was a good throw and a great tag by Colleen.”

That may be where Pearl River’s experience paid off, being able to rally after the missed opportunity.

“I guess I was a little nervous, but I knew we would pull through,” Mahoney said. “We are a tough team. We don’t give up no matter what. We know we’ve got to do it bit by bit. We just got on a roll and we did it.”

Amanda Hartigan got the Pirates started with a single down the left-field line to lead off the sixth, moving to second on a one-out wild pitch. Mahoney drew a walk, and ball four was another wild pitch, allowing the runners to move to second and third. DeGennaro bunted and the runners went on contact. Gutkin threw home in time to get Hartigan, but Pagnani bobbled the throw and the tying run scored.

“We’ve got a young team out there,” Kousoulas said. “The pitcher is a freshman. She’s battling in these big games. A lot of kudos go her way.

“She’s right in line to make a play. What am I going to tell her? That she threw the ball too hard? She made a play and the ball rolled up on the catcher’s hands. We had her dead. That was the tying run, but the wind  came out (of us).”

O’Flynn followed with a ground ball, but courtesy runner Woods beat the throw home to give the Pirates a 3-2 lead. Leote walked to load the bases for Goldrick, who grounded into a force at third, but the throw to first to attempt to complete the double play got away, allowing a fourth run to score.

“We had the girl doubled up on first and the runner blocked my first baseman’s view and the ball got through,” Kousoulas said. “They played their small ball and made us make a play and we just didn’t do it that inning.”