Lady Bears Softball Sweeps Doubleheader vs. York

Lady Bears Softball Sweeps Doubleheader vs. York

BELLEROSE, N.Y. – Senior Mabel Vargas (Ridgewood, NY/Mary Louis) scattered four hits over 10 innings of work and the Lady Bears bats came alive for 25 hits and 18 runs as St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) swept York College 4-0 and 14-5 (five innings) on Thursday afternoon at Padavan-Preller Field.

The Lady Bears (3-7) earned their first doubleheader sweep of the season while York (3-8) suffered their fourth straight road loss.

Vargas fired a complete game two-hit shutout in the opener and tossed three innings of two-hit ball in the nightcap to improve to 3-7 in the circle and finished the afternoon striking out six while walking only one.

Junior Christina Quintana (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund Prep) had another day at the plate finishing 3-for-4 with five RBI (four coming in the nightcap), two runs and a pair of doubles.

Junior Andrea Sideli (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) finished 4-for-5 with two runs, a RBI, and a double and senior Danielle Marino (Maspeth, NY/Mary Louis) also had a four-hit day, finishing 4-for-7, three runs, a RBI, a double and a triple.

St. Joseph's never trailed in either contest and three runs in the third of the opener proved to be the difference in a closely played game. In the nightcap, the Lady Bears exploded for six runs in the first and built a 14-0 lead before the Cardinals tallied their first run of the series.

Turning Points – Game 1

The third inning proved to be the deciding frame with Laura Innocente (Staten Island, NY/St. John Villa) leading off with a single and scoring on a long double from Maria Randazzo (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund Prep) that proved to be the game winner. Later in the inning, Cassandra Molinari (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund Prep) made the Cardinals pay for an error with two outs delivering home two more runs with another deep double to the wall.

York managed runners at the corners in the following inning, but that would be their last threat of the game as Vargas worked three perfect innings to seal the win.

Turning Points – Game 2

St. Joseph's took an early lead sending 11 batters to the plate in the first and eight different Lady Bears recorded a hit plating six runs that put the game out of reach. Marino lined a triple to the right center gap to start the scoring and Molinari, Sideli, Jackie Perillo (Howard Beach, NY/Archbishop Molloy) and Quintana continued a string of five straight hits.

The Lady Bears produced another big frame in the third highlighted by a two-run double from Quintana and a two-run triple from Megan Moran (Syosset, NY/St. Dominic).

Inside the Box Scores

  • Celebrating her 18th birthday, Randazzo went 3-for-4 over the twinbill with a double and two RBI.
  • Molinari batted 3-for-6 wut three RBI, two runs and a double on the afternoon.
  • Twelve different Lady Bears recorded a hit over the series, Shannon Rom (Breezy Point, NY/Bishop Kearney) knocking her first collegiate hit and RBI.

News and Notes

  • St. Joseph's improves to 16-0 in the all-time series vs. York, the four-run decision in the opener the closest since a 3-0 game in 2009.
  • Quintana's four RBI in game two were the most by a Lady Bear this season. Over the last four games, she has hit 6-for-7 with six RBI, two runs and three doubles, lifting her batting average to a team-leading .545.
  • Marino extended her hitting streak to a team-best five games. Quintana and Sideli are working on four game streaks.
  • Vargas complete game shutout was the first of her career. She had previously contributed to four combined shutouts in 2010.

Next Up for the Lady Bears

St. Joseph's returns to Padavan-Preller Field on Monday, April 1 hosting Lehman College in a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. Follow the game on Twitter via @SJCBears and on live stats on SJCBears.com