April
4, 2007
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| Kerry Meisten stroked a two-run single in the fifth inning and drove home the only two runs that Emerson needed to knock of Elmwood Park, 2-0, in its season opener on Tuesday. | |
EMERSON – Clutch hits, sound defense, good pitching, and senior leadership are all qualities that an Emerson softball team has had over the years. But after relinquishing their BCSL-Olympic throne to Park Ridge last year, the Lady Cavos were considered to be falling back towards the rest of the pack with an inexperienced team returning for the 2007 season.
However, in Tuesday’s season-opener against a rejuvenated Elmwood Park program, all the key components to the Cavos’ past success were still intact.
Kerry Meisten stroked a two-run single in the fifth that provided all the support Kelly Madan needed. The junior right-hander hurled a one-hit shutout as Emerson downed the upstart Crusaders, 2-0.
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| Elmwood Park hurler Caitlyn Kelly pitched well in taking the loss, striking out 8 while allowing just three hits and a walk. |
“This is a young team, but we are still a pretty good team,” said Emerson head coach Steve Mondadori. “We knew Elmwood Park was coming off a good win and we had to play well to win. I thought we could have executed some things better today offensively. But defensively we played really well, about as well as I could have expected. Kelly (Madan)’s pitching and our defense really kept us in the game until we got a big hit from Kerry (Meisten).”
Elmwood Park came in with one game and a solid victory already under its belt as, on Monday, Kerri Nangle’s two-run homer lifted the Crusaders to a 3-1 win over Garfield. While the blast from Nangle gave them some confidence, it was defense and pitching that proved to be the difference in yesterday’s outcome.
Madan and Caitlyn Kelly spent the first four innings locked in a pitcher’s duel, mirror images of one another. Each pitcher had five strikeouts and they combined to allow just one hit over that span, a third-inning single by Emerson’s Alexa O’Hanlon.
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| Kelly Madan did not allow a hit until the seventh inning for Emerson, which won its first game of the season. |
Madan almost worked herself into trouble in the top half of the fifth. Her error with one out on Kerri Nangle’s ground ball allowed EP’s first runner to reach base. Nangle took second on a passed ball before Brittany Steepy hit a ground ball to short on the next pitch. Nicole Palombit fielded the ball and alertly faked the throw to first, freezing Steepy for a second and Palombit tagged her out before she could get back to second base. Madan then got a called strike three to end the inning.
A leadoff single by Jill Stanton got things going for the Cavos in the bottom half of the fifth inning. Nicole Tsentas then dropped down a bunt and reached on an error. A wild pitch moved the runners up and Meisten stepped to the plate with one out. The designated player made the most of her opportunity by poking a high fastball into right-center, scoring both Stanton and Tsentas for the game’s only runs.
“I just knew this was a chance for me to do my job and pull through for my team,” said Meisten. “I was just looking for something up over the plate. I got the pitch I wanted and was able to make contact. I knew if we scored one run that Kelly would take of the rest. With the way she was pitching today, one run was really all we needed.”
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| Elmwood Park's Katie Yerzefski had a bloop single in the top of the seventh inning that broke up the no-hitter. |
Madan continued to pitch lights-out ball and was one out away from a no-hitter until Katie Yerzefski broke it up with a bloop single with two outs in the seventh before inducing a fly ball to earn the shutout win.
“She (Madan) pitched a good game and she really kept us off-balance,” said Jeff Horohonich, the former IHA head coach who is in his first year as Elmwood Park’s skipper. “We had one bad inning and it cost us the game. We are still learning how to be disciplined, yet aggressive in certain situations. This is a disappointing loss, but it’s all part of a learning process. We played good team today and we competed. Our goal is to make the counties and the states. Even though it’s a loss, it is a good learning experience and it is another step towards where we want to be.”
Madan finished with no walks and seven Ks for Emerson (1-0). Toni DaPaolo also had a hit for the Cavos.
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| Kaitlyn Tumino and the Emerson defense played seven innings of error-free softball. |
Caitlyn Kelly pitched well in taking the loss for Elmwood Park (1-1). The senior had eight strikeouts against just one walk in a three-hit effort.
“It is always important to start the season on a good note,” said Madan, who won the Bergen County Group 1-2 first singles title in tennis this past fall. “We’re a young team and I think it took us awhile to get going. I knew we would pull together and find a way to win. I just had to pitch well and we had to keep playing good defensively until we started to hit. We never got down on ourselves and we just kept playing hard.”
“Even though some people think we’re going to have a down year, that just gives us more motivation to go out and try to win our league. To win a close game in our first game of the season is a good start.”
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