Chiaramonte's Near No-Hitter Helps Lady Bears Wrap Florida Trip at 3-3 Mark

FORT MYERS, FL – The St. Joseph's College softball team wrapped up their most successful spring break trip, splitting a twin bill for the third straight game and returning home with a 3-3 record. The Lady Bears earned their third win defeating Norwich University 3-1 behind a near no-hitter from Alyson Chiaramonte (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic). St. Joseph's fell in the second game, 3-0, to Curry College.

In the seven previous spring break trips to Tucson, Arizona and Fort Meyers, Florida, St. Joseph's only managed two wins total.  One each in 2009 and 2010, both at the Tucson Invitational Games.

In the opener against Norwich (0-7), Chiaramonte dominated in the circle carrying a no-hitter bid for 6 2/3 innings allowing a lone walk in the second inning as Norwich's only baserunner. Chiaramonte was one strike away from capturing her second career no-hitter, when a drive to right field by Noel Byers spoiled her no-hit bid. The next batter, second baseman Danielle Marino (Maspeth, NY/Mary Louis) made a great diving play on a grounder to the right side in an attempt to preserve the shutout, but couldn't get the ball out in time to get the runner and Chiaramonte surrendered her lone earned run of the trip, improving to 3-0 in the circle, while striking out six.

The Lady Bears' jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning led off with a triple by Caitlyn Kakavas (Bayside, NY/St. Agnes) who later scored on a wild pitch. Emily Palmieri (Staten Island, NY/St. John's Villa) followed her with a walk and was later brought home with an RBI single by Lauren Norris (Sunnyside, NY/Long Island City).

St. Joseph's added another run in the third inning, receiving a leadoff double from Danielle Marino followed by singles from Lisa Scheer (Bayside, NY/Mary Louis) and Chiaramonte, the latter scoring Marino from third.

In game two against Curry (2-6), the Colonels got on the board first, scoring a run in second.  The Colonel runner was nearly thrown out at the plate by Chiaramonte in center field, but Marino, now playing catcher, could not apply the tag, giving Curry a 1-0 lead. A beautiful diving catch by Marino two batters later helped St. Joseph's escape the bases loaded threat and remain within one.

Curry added two more runs in the fifth inning, reaching starter Scheer and Chiaramonte, who came in relief, for three hits.

St. Joseph's threatened all game, but was unable to move their baserunners around, stranding 10 for the game and unable to produce any runs. The Lady Bears left the bases loaded in the sixth and brought the tying run to the plate twice in the seventh inning, but was unable to produce any runs.

Scheer and Marino led St. Joseph's at the plate for the afternoon both collecting three hits and a double each. Norris and Chiaramonte collected the RBIs for the Lady Bears.

The Lady Bears return to action hosting Albertus Magnus College for a twin bill on Friday, March 25th, in their home opener at Padavan-Preller Fields, the new home for the 2011 season. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 pm.