Lady Bears Rally From Six Down to Sweep John Jay

BROOKLYN, NY – The St. Joseph's College softball team plated six runs in the sixth inning completing a six-run comeback to take a 12-9 victory in the nightcap of the Alumni Night/Breast Cancer Awareness Doubleheader at National Grid Softball Field on Tuesday night.  The Lady Bears won the opener, 5-0, behind a four-hit shutout by Alyson Chiaramonte (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic).

Chiaramonte, who was named AD3I Player of the Week earlier in the day for the second straight week, continued her dominant play, earning both wins in the twinbill, striking out 15 and allowing only five hits in 9 1/3 innings of work.  At the plate, she finished 4-for-8, successfully hitting in both games, extending her hitting streak to 23 games, breaking the record previously held by assistant coach C.J. Kavanagh set in 2007.

Lisa Scheer (Bayside, NY/Mary Louis) and Millicia Malvasio (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) each collected a trio of hits and runs scored while driving in a pair of runs.  Jackie Marinello (Brooklyn, NY/Fontbonne Hall) scored four runs while walking four times and knocking a duo of extra base hits.  Andrea Sideli (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) had a pair of hits and Caitlyn Kakavas (Bayside, NY/St. Agnes) scored three runs.

John Jay was led by Christina Perez (Brooklyn, NY/James Madison) who had three hits with an RBI and run scored including a triple and a double.  Nelly Vega (Bronx, NY/In-Tech Academy) had a pair of hits and RBI and scoring three runs.  Nina Chao (Woodside, NY/W.C. Bryant) had three base knocks with a triple and run scored.

Chiaramonte pitched another gem in the opener leading to her seventh complete game shutout this season.  She scattered four hits throughout the contest and limited Bloodhound base runners from passing second base.  Chiaramonte struck out 12, matching her season-high for the fourth time this season and issued her first walk in 48 innings of work over 10 appearances.

St. Joseph's opened the scoring plating a pair of runs in the first started by Chiaramonte helping her own cause with a single to score Malvasio who led off the inning with a single.  Scheer, who doubled earlier in the frame, later scored on a Emily Palmieri (Staten Island, NY/St. John's Villa) grounder.

The Lady Bears gradually extended their lead adding single tallies in the second, third and sixth innings.  Marinello led off the second with a triple and scored on a Malvasio sacrifice fly.  Marinello also drew a bases loaded walk in the third scoring Kakavas who led off the inning with a single.  The John Jay defense kept the game close as the Lady Bears managed to load the bases with less than two outs on three separate occasions, coming away with only two runs. 

Angela Lam (Brooklyn, NY/Newtown) took the loss for the Bloodhounds surrendering five runs (four earned) on six hits and seven walks.

Both teams exchanged solo runs in the opening frame of the nightcap with John Jay breaking the game open with a six-run second inning knocking five hits off starter Scheer to take a 7-1 lead.  Perez and Chao both tripled and scored while Vega drove in two with a single and Kim Bifulco (Staten Island, NY/St. John Villa) and Jasmine Miranda (Passaic, NJ/Passaic) each had RBI hits.

St. Joseph's managed to get two runs back in the third, all coming with two outs, started by a Palmieri double that delivered Kakavas.  Palmieri advanced to third and later scored on two wild pitches.  The top hitting team in the CUNYAC responded by tacking two more runs in the next half inning on a Danielle Bonici (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's Girls) RBI triple, later scoring on a wild pitch.

The Lady Bears strung together another two-out rally in the bottom half of the fourth to cut the deficit to 9-6.  Malvasio and Marinello drew back-to-back walks and Scheer brought them both home with an opposite field blast that hit halfway up the right field wall for a triple and scoring on a Bloodhound error during the relay.

Mabel Vargas (Ridgewood, NY/Mary Louis) relieved Scheer in the circle in the fifth and back-to-back Lady Bears miscues to start the frame placed runners at first and second, but Vargas fought back to force two grounders.  With the heart of the Bloodhound lineup coming up, Coach Frank P. Carbone went back to Chiaramonte who kept the inning scoreless with a slow grounder to first. 

John Jay maintained a 9-6 advantage as the Lady Bears failed to generate any noise in the bottom half of the fifth and despite allowing a leadoff double, Chiaramonte retired the remainder of the side in order in the top of the sixth.

In bottom of the sixth, the top of the Lady Bears lineup quickly applied pressure on John Jay hurler, Bifulco, sparking the comeback.  St. Joe's loaded the bases with a Malvasio leadoff infield single and back-to-back walks from Scheer and Marinello.  Chiaramonte delivered her third hit of the game to start the carousel and Kakavas drew a bases loaded walk to pull within one run.  A Bloodhound defensive miscue equalized the game at 9-9 and kept the bases loaded with no outs. 

John Jay managed a force out at the plate and a strikeout to nearly escape the inning tied, but a two-out single by Vargas provided the go ahead run and the Lady Bears first lead of the game.  Two more bases loaded walks by Malvasio and Marinello gave the Lady Bears a three-run cushion, 12-9.

Chiaramonte sat down John Jay in order in the final inning to seal the comeback victory and improving to 14-3 in the circle, also surpassing her 13 win total in her rookie season.  Scheer finished with a no-decision, surrendering nine runs (six earned) on 10 hits, striking out two and walking three.  Bilfulco took the loss allowing 12 runs (seven earned) on 11 hits, with three strikeouts and eight walks, five coming in the sixth inning.

Both squads conclude their regular season with St. Joseph's improving to 24-9-1 and John Jay falling to 11-19.

The Lady Bears begin postseason play on Sunday, May 2nd at the Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference Invitational held at Sarah Lawrence College.  St. Joseph's will face College of New Rochelle in the first semifinal at 10 am with the victor meeting the winner of the Sarah Lawrence/College of Notre Dame semifinal.