St. John the Baptist's run ends in CHSAA state semifinal

For a bit, it looked as if softball's cardiac cats had another dramatic comeback in them - that St. John the Baptist would do to another opponent what it had done to several others in its improbable run to the CHSAA state semifinals.

Down three runs in the bottom of the seventh, the Cougars rallied for two runs, igniting the bench and their "home" crowd at St. Paul the Apostle Preschool field, and forcing St. Joseph by the Sea to make a pitching change. But with the tying run in scoring position, a sharp grounder to second ended the rally, the game and their reign.

Jackie Kelly's RBI double in the top of the seventh proved to be the deciding run as the Vikings dethroned two-time defending state champion St. John the Baptist, 4-3, Tuesday.

"I thought we were going to come back right there," said coach Brianne Herr, whose team upset St. Anthony's last week in the Long Island final. "It just wasn't in the cards."

With St. John trailing 4-1, Kaitlyn Crowley singled to right and Kaitlin Pescitelli doubled over the centerfielder's head to put runners at second and third with no outs. Allison Schmidt then delivered a two-run single up the middle. This prompted Vikings coach Mike Ponsiglione to replace starter Jackie Cautela with Amanda Barrese, who recorded the final three outs.

"When we were down, the seventh inning was always ours," Schmidt said. "But today, we came up a little short."

St. Joseph by the Sea went up 1-0 on an error in the first. Allison Cain's RBI double in the third tied it for SJB, but Toni-Ann Canova's home run to center in the fourth enabled the Vikings to retake the lead.

SEE PHOTOSSt. Joseph by the Sea 4, St. John the Baptist 3

"Nobody expected us to get this far," pitcher Erin Caputo said. "We won't hang our heads over this and we're proud."

Hofstra star Olivia Galati, in attendance, echoed those sentiments and lauded her former team. "I followed them as much as I could this season," she said. "They played hard, but just ran into a great team."

Her graduation last year drew questions about how well the Cougars would do.

"People know we don't have the same team we've had," Herr said. "One of the things we've worked on is staying up for every inning. They did that and [this game] is evidence. That's all I can ask for."

SEE PHOTOSHigh school sports -- June

The Cougars (19-5) defeated St. Mary's of Buffalo, 7-0, in the consolation game. The contest was called in the fourth inning because of lightning. St. Joseph by the Sea won the final, 3-2, over Archbishop Molloy.