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Lady Lancers keep perfect record with comeback win against Nardin
By Steven Dlugosz Times
 | | PLAY AT THE PLATE...A Nardin Academy baserunner slides safely into home plate barely before the tag of St. Mary's catcher Chrissy Valentino, a Cheektowaga resident, during Monday's game. (Times photo) |
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Coming from behind to win isn't something the St. Mary's of Lancaster varsity softball team has had to do this season before Monday's game against league opponent Nardin Academy. However, staring at a 3-0 deficit against the Lady Gators in the fifth inning, the Lady Lancers scraped together enough timely hits to maintain their perfect record.
Cheektowaga resident Jessica Dudek, a junior, put St. Mary's on top for good in the top of the sixth inning, pounding a two-run triple that ripped past Nardin's left fielder. The hit gave the Lady Lancers a 5-3 lead, and the locals held on to win by that same score.
Another Cheektowaga resident, sophomore Stephanie Simmeth, had opened the sixth with a bunt down the first base line and reached safely on a close play when Nardin's first baseman couldn't hang on to a high throw. Freshman Lauren Wesolowski moved Simmeth to second base on a sacrifice bunt, and senior Sarah Zureck laced a single to right field. Dudek then contributed her big hit.
 | | SHE'S IN THERE...St. Mary's of Lancaster junior Jessica Dudek, a Cheektowaga resident, is held at third base after booming a two-run triple Monday against Nardin. (Times photo) |
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Simmeth, a lefthanded hitter, finished 2-4 at the plate with a run scored.
Wesolowski, who had allowed only one run in her previous five starts on the mound, struggled at times Monday but found a way to work out of several jams, including one in a precarious bottom half of the seventh inning. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out, but Wesolowski struck out of a Lady Gators hitter looking, then coaxed a groundout to shortstop to end the contest.
"It wasn't her best day, but she threw hard and got outs when she needed them," St. Mary's head coach Dave Helak said of Wesolowski, who allowed 11 hits in a completegame effort, striking out six and walking two. "As a team, we're com- ing together and really meshing and gelling. People on the bench understand their roles...Winning definitely helps."
Both teams were held scoreless early before Nardin broke through first in the bottom of the fourth inning. Two consecutive bases-loaded singles scored three runs for the Lady Gators, as the latter hit led to a close play at the plate in which Cheektowaga resident and sophomore catcher Chrissy Valentino tagged a sliding baserunner barely too late.
However, spurred on by encoura gement from a supportive St. Mary's fan contingent, the Lady Lancers came back in the top of the fifth inning. After a walk, error and wild pitch, Cheektowaga resident Kelsey Rademacher, a sophom ore, blooped a single to right field to score one run. Senior Cassie Rybak followed with a squeeze bunt to score another run, and freshman Amy Kawa tied the game with a seeing-eye single through the right side of the infield.
Kawa finished 2-3 with an RBI, while Rybak, Rademacher, Zureck and Dudek contributed one hit apiece.
Rademacher also hit a three-run homer in a 12-0 win against Nichols April 30. Senior Bridget Rosati contributed three hits in the victory.
The Lady Lancers (6-0 overall, 5- 0 in the Monsignor Martin Association) have produced one of their best seasons in recent years, led by strong play from several freshmen and sophomores. The locals faced Holy Angels Wednesday afternoon in a first-place showdown, with results coming too late for press time. The Lady Lancers will face league foe Mount St. Mary's today on the road, with first pitch scheduled for 4:15 p.m.
Local softballers stay hot with clutch performances
Although Saturday's rain washed out much of the Depew Wildcat Softball Tournament, it couldn't diminish another dominating performance by the Lady Wildcats' varsity softball team.
Depew (11-2 overall, 6-1 in Erie County Interscholastic Conference- III) blanked Barker, 10-0 in six innings, as sophomore Ashley Nunz led the offensive attack by going 3- 4 with one run scored. Senior Katie Turvey and juniors Lindsay Struwe and Amber Grosch added two hits apiece, as Struwe scored three runs.
The locals also avenged on Friday a season-opening loss to Pioneer, defeating the Lady Panthers, 7-4. Depew overcame an early 2-1 deficit, as junior Alexis Wayne- moved to the leadoff spot by head coach Dan Seelig- went 3-3 with three runs scored. Senior Kerry Balsavage and juniors Michelle Green and Jessica Puskar each contributed two hits, while Turvey added three walks.
Senior Rachel Bracikowski went the distance on the mound, striking out eight and walking four, while allowing six hits.
Last Thursday, the Lady 'Cats edged league foe Tonawanda, 3-2, as Puskar laced two triples.
However, Depew's biggest win of the young season probably came last Wednesday, when the 'Cats defeated archrival Maryvale in a thriller, 5-4.
Green plated the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth inning and Bracikowski had 12 strikeouts, as Depew ended Maryvale's perfect season with a huge win.
Depew swept Maryvale last season in both softball games.
The contest didn't heat up until the bottom of the second. After a single by Maryvale senior Jessica Garland, Bracikowski struck out the next two hitters before a bloop hit landed be- tween two outfielders, scoring Garland to give Maryvale an early lead.
However, Depew battled back in the top of the fourth to take the lead. With two outs and a runner on second, Puskar smashed an RBI single over the second basemen to tie the game.
The next at-bat saw Puskar steal second, and applying pressure, Balsavage hit a weak ground ball that the catcher threw past the first basemen, allowing Puskar to score to give Depew a 2-1 advantage.
Maryvale responded in the bottom of the fifth, when a throwing error by the second basemen allowed Koshofer to score, tying the game. The next batter swatted the ball deep, allowing another run to score, but a subsequent baserunner was promptly thrown out at home plate while she attemped to stretch the play into a home run.
Depew came back in the top of the sixth. After a single by Green, Turvey smoked an RBI triple to tie the game at three apiece. With two outs, junior Lacey Staniszewski's hit allowed Puskar to score, but Maryvale threw out the runner attempting to advance to third to get out of the jam.
Maryvale tied the contest in the bottom half of the frame with a sacrifice, allowing senior Toni Caruso to score to tie it at four apiece.
The teams couldn't score in the seventh, and it set up the drama for the eighth inning. The fourth pitch thrown by Maryvale sophomore Brittany Koshofer to Green- who led off the top of the eighth - was a pitch she'd like to have back.
On a booming hit to the outfield, a Lady Flyers outfielder misplayed the smash, allowing Green to round the bases and reach home for a 5-4 lead. Koshofer would get out of the inning, but the bottom of the eighth would be the end for Maryvale.
Maryvale sophomore Kelli Gleiser reached base on a one-out single, but a pickoff play caught her off base and tagged out in a rundown. A pop-out by Caruso to first base would seal the victory for Depew.
Maryvale (7-1 in ECIC-III) holds a half-game lead over Depew for league supremacy. The Lady Flyers earned consecutive shutout wins Monday and Tuesday, including a 7- 0 win over Starpoint and a 4-0 victory at home against rival Cheektowaga Central.
Koshofer was dominant on the mound in the wins, tossing a complete game, two-hitter against Starpoint. She then hurled a complete game, four-hitter against the Lady Warriors, striking out nine.
Central (4-4 in ECIC-III) was coming off an eye-popping, 17-1 win against Pioneer Monday, a game in which senior Deanna Szymkowiak went 5-5 at the plate. Junior Neysha Harrell was hitting a team-high .536 entering the week, while the eighthgrade tandem of Yasmine Harrell and Jen Mikolajek was producing averages of .464 and .357, respectively.
In ECIC-IV action, John F. Kennedy (8-0) and Cleveland Hill (8-1) maintained their close race at the top of the division with several dominating victories.
JFK throttled Springville, 10-3, on Tuesday, as senior Courtney Smith produced four hits, two RBI and two runs scored. In a 6-1 win against Holland Monday, senior pitcher Caitlyn Szymanski was superb on the mound, striking out 15 batters in a complete-game effort, allowing just one hit. Also, in a 6-3 win against Eden Friday, Smith went 3-3 at the plate, adding three RBI and two runs.
The Lady Eagles crushed Springville Monday, 10-2, as senior catcher Alyssa Luksch went 4-5 with three RBI.
The Black-and-Blue rivalry between Kennedy and Cleve Hill resumes Monday at JFK, with first place in ECIC-IV on the line. Game time is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. JFK won the first matchup this seaon, 4- 3, on the Lady Eagles' home field.
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