Kakavas' Game Winning Home Run Completes Lady Bears Sweep of Briarcliffe
BROOKLYN, NY – Last week's HVWAC Rookie of the Week, Caitlyn Kakavas(Queens, NY/St. Agnes) recorded two game-winning RBIs hitting for the cycle over both games leading the St. Joseph's College softball team to a sweep of USCAA rival Briarcliffe College (17-11). The Lady Bears finish the regular season at 24-8 and become the winningest team in St. Joseph's College softball history surpassing the 23-win mark set by the 2003 Lady Bears squad.
Lisa Scheer (Queens, NY/Mary Louis) and Alyson Chiaramonte(Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) pitched complete game wins, containing the Briarcliffe offense, which had four hitters ranked in the USCAA top 20 in batting, to only nine hits. Of the five runs allowed only, four came unearned.
St. Joseph's took a 1-0 lead in the first inning with two outs after Scheer reached on an error and scored from first on a Chiaramonte double to left center. The Lady Bears threatened in the third and fourth innings getting a runner to third base, but were unable to deliver her home.
Briarcliffe tied the game in the fourth with the leadoff batter being hit by a pitch. During a sacrifice attempt, the Lady Bears successfully retired the batter, but the runner on first tried to advance to third. The throw across the diamond was high and although the play was backed up, umpires ruled that the ball reached the out of play area and the runner was awarded home.
The game remained tied until the bottom of the sixth with Chiaramonte reaching on a throwing error, later advancing to third on a ground out. With two outs, Kakavas delivered a deep shot over the left fielder's head for a double, scoring Chiaramonte for the game winning-run.
Scheer (12-4) closed out the 2-1 victory in the seventh with a grounder and two strikeouts, retiring the side in order. She finished the game allowing four hits, one run (unearned), striking out seven and walking one.
In the nightcap, Briarcliffe drew a leadoff walk in the second inning and moved her to second on a sacrifice. A single up the middle scored the game's first run giving Briarcliffe their first lead of the series.
St. Joseph's used a two-out rally in the third to tie the game. Jackie Marinello(Brooklyn, NY/Fontbonne) singled with a bunt to third and advanced on a throwing error. Scheer drove her home with a single through the right side. Chiaramonte then hit a ball to deep center field and but with Scheer was thrown out at third by a spectacular throw by the centerfielder to end the rally and keep the game tied at 1-1.
In the fifth inning, Briarcliffe led off with a triple, but on the next batter Carissa Cancemi(Queens, NY/Martin Luther) made a great play throwing her out at home with Kakavas blocking the plate as she tried to score on a ground ball. Later in the inning a controversial play opened the door for three Briarcliffe runs. With two outs and a runner on first, home plate umpire singled that the count was 2-1. The batter swung and missed the next pitch, but Kakavas dropped the ball and the batter ran to first. Assuming it was only the second strike, Kakavas didn't make an attempt to throw the runner out. After some discussion between the umpires, it was determined that the correct count was 2-2 and that it was a dropped third strike, allowing the batter to remain on first and the runner on first advancing to second. Now facing the heart of the Briarcliffe lineup, Samantha Koenig hit a deep ball to center for a triple to score both runners. Laura McTaggart, who leads the USCAA in RBI, followed with a single to give the Seahawks a 4-1 lead. Kakavas threw out McTaggart's pinch runner as she tried to steal second to end the inning.
The Lady Bears put together their best comeback of the season responding with a five-run inning that left Briarcliffe deflated. Theresa Mendez(Queens, NY/St. Francis Prep) started the comeback with a one-out triple to center. She scored the next batter on a Marinello single. Marinello advanced to third base on two passed balls. Scheer struck out for the second out of the inning. A throwing error by the third baseman kept the inning alive and allowed Marinello to score, cutting the deficit to 4-3. Emily Palmieri(Staten Island, NY/St. John Villa) was hit by a pitch putting runners on first and second with two outs. On a 1-1 pitch, Kakavas sent a deep shot to over the left fielder's head which kept rolling. Kakavas circled the bases, the relay not coming in on time, for her second home run of the season, the eventual game-winning HR and her fourth RBI of the doubleheader.
With a two-run lead, Chiaramonte retired the side in order in the sixth and the Lady Bears added an insurance run in the bottom half taking advantage of two Seahawk errors. Briarcliffe committed five errors in the game. Now leading 7-4, Chiaramonte completed the sweep with another 1-2-3 inning. Chiaramonte (12-4) allowed four runs (three unearned) on five hits, striking out eight and walking one.
Over the twin-bill, Kakavas went 4-for-5 with a home run, triple, double, a stolen base, four RBI and a run scored. She improves her batting average to .321 on the season and now is third on the team in batting and slugging. Chiaramonte and Marinello each added three hits, scoring twice with driving in one. Mendez had a triple, two sacrifice bunts and scored twice. Scheer, Cancemi, Jillian Troise (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) had the remaining hits for the Lady Bears.
St. Joseph's enters the Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference (HVWAC) tournament held at College of St. Elizabeth (Morristown, NJ) on Saturday as the number one seed. They face #4 New Rochelle in the first semifinal at 10 a.m. and the winner will play the winner of the #2 St Elizabeth/#3 Sarah Lawrence game at 12 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for 2 p.m. The Lady Bears seek their third HVWAC title. In the event of rain, play will be rescheduled for Sunday.