Errors trip Mercy in loss to Tuckahoe

This would be the one that got away, perhaps.

After one of the best regular seasons in school history, it was the ground balls that skittered away, the pitches that veered too far outside and a deficit that ballooned to unmanageable that finally ended Mercy's season.

The Monarchs committed seven errors and walked eight batters on the way to a 9-2 loss to Westchester's Tuckahoe Tigers in Tuesday's Class C southeast regional final at St. Joseph's College. It was a difficult end to a stellar year that saw Mercy win the League VIII title and clinch the first LI Class C championship since 1992.

"We didn't play our best," said senior catcher Rocco Pascale. "It happens. With baseball, it's hard to play single elimination."

After using ace Pat Stepnoski in the 5-2 win over Friends Academy Sunday, Mercy turned to junior J.T. DeScalo on the mound. DeScalo, who allowed only two hits over 41/3, was nonetheless saddled with three unearned runs -- two in the first inning. The lefty walked back-to-back batters with one out in the first before inducing a fly ball that was dropped deep in the outfield to score the runners.

Mercy (17-6) got one back in the bottom of the inning on Pascale's one-out RBI double to right, but the Tigers scored once more in the third on L.J. Gallo's fielder's choice for a 3-1 lead.

Mercy had only come from behind twice this season and struggled with the early deficit, said coach Ed Meier. "That was tough for us," he said. "It took us out of the running game . . . we couldn't be as aggressive on the base paths as we usually are."

SEE PHOTOSSoutheast regional: Tuckahoe 9, Mercy 2

The Tigers (16-6) broke the game open with a four-run fifth off DeScalo and reliever Joe Crosser, and could have scored more if not for Stepnoski's two centerfield assists to cut down runners at the plate. Mercy attempted to rally in the bottom half of the inning with one run in and the bases loaded with two outs. Tom Kretz hit what looked to be a potential two-RBI single but an interference call on the runner at second ended the inning. "That call took us out of the game," Meier said. "We made mental mistakes . . . we were tight. When they got runs on the board, we were tighter, and it snowballed."

Afterward, Pascale could only muse at the fairy tale season with no happy ending.

"We had fun, but it was time to end it," he said. Still: "It was only two runs."

The two runs that got away and hurt the most.