Wagner senior Krystal Howard makes a running catch. (Philip Hall)
The Susan Wagner players were in a place not many expected them to be and one they didn’t want to leave.
The girls huddled in the Lincoln HS outfield for the last time following the third-seeded Falcons’ 3-0 PSAL Class A softball semifinal loss to No. 2 James Madison Wednesday. When coach Marco Altieri finished talking there were plenty of tears and each player made sure to hug each and every teammate and coach.
“It’s hard,” junior center fielder Danielle Locke said. “We are a family. We are together every day. It’s just sad that this was the last game of the season.”
It was a contest that had an eerily déjà vu feeling to Wagner’s 5-3 loss to the Knights in last season’s semifinal. The game was moved from Lafayette to Lincoln, the site of last year’s game, after the first field was not set up to be played on. Madison would again jump ahead 3-0 in the first inning.
“Once I heard we were coming to Lincoln I was like, ‘Oh God. Not like last year,’” Locke said.
Madison (18-1) started the game with two singles against Wagner ace Taylor Sarcone. Locke and right fielder Krystal Howard ran into each other allowing Gina Gerone’s fly ball to drop in and plate a run. Nikki Panaro followed with a two-run double.
“It’s not like we threw the game away,” Altieri said. “I don’t believe in one bad inning. … You have to hit the ball.”
It’s something Madison starter Kayla Hill made extremely difficult. Wagner (18-3) collected just three hits, two from Sarcone, and struck out eight times. Even when they did make contact the ball was hit right at fielders or into a skilled Knights outfield. Sarcone’s two-out double in the opening inning was the only time a runner got to second.
“She was hitting her spots and that’s what you have to do in a big game,” Sarcone said.
The steady sophomore and the Falcons defense weren’t too bad either after the first inning. Sarcone allowed just three hits the rest of the way, after four in the first, and didn’t walk a batter. Locke made two fine defensive plays in the fifth and Howard needed a long run in for a grab down the line.
“The outfield did amazing, the diving catches, the running,” Sarcone said. “Everyone was hustling.”
Altieri felt he, his coaches and the girls got the most they could out of the talent they had, losing to just Tottenville in the regular season. The Falcons lost four influential seniors from last year’s team leaving people before the season to believe a semifinal berth would not be in the cards. But this is a special group, which loses five starters to graduation.
“They are a wonderful family,” Altieri said. “If I can’t be with my kids then I’d love being with this group of kids and my coaches.”