Tottenville coach Cathy Morano said she was a nervous wreck before a semifinal game with Cardozo. (Damion Reid)
After six straight PSAL softball city titles you would think a semifinal would be just another game to Tottenville coach Cathy Morano.
Not so.
“I was a nervous wreck today,” she said. “I don’t know. I just was. [Cardozo] played us well last year. They are the No. 4 seed. If you are not nervous going into a game like this you really shouldn’t be here.”
Her players finally put her at ease with a three-run third inning that propelled the top-seeded Pirates to a 5-0 win over the Judges at Abraham Lincoln HS in Brooklyn Wednesday. The win puts Tottenville (21-0) in the final for the ninth straight season after a rematch of last season’s semifinal, which was won 9-1 by the Staten Island school.
“We definitely have to work for everything because people don’t have that much faith in us, saying that we are not going to make it,” said junior Sam Mattsson, who was 3-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. “We want to prove them wrong.”
Just like pitcher Nicole Palase continues to show why she is one of the best in the city. The junior adapted to the umpire’s strike zone to work seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball against Cardozo (15-3). She walked four and struck out seven. Palase’s biggest jam came in the second when she stranded two on with one out.
“My curveball outside was working,” she said. “I wasn’t getting anything on the inside corner. I had to go with his strike zone. I was getting frustrated. I had to work with it.”
After a second-inning sac fly from younger sister Jen Palase, Nicole sparked a big third. She tripled over the head of Cardozo centerfielder Jen Beiner to make it 2-0. Victoria McFarland executed a perfect bunt to bring her home and Mattsson delivered an RBI double. Sonia Jimenez’s single made it 5-0 in the fifth. The Pirates had 10 hits against Cardozo ace Amanda Annicaro, but not many were hard hit.
“She is definitely the one the picks everyone up,” Mattsson said of Nicole Palase. “We can always count on her, that’s for sure”
With Palase not striking out batters at her normal rate the Pirates relied more on its defense. Second baseman Lisa Cutrona ranged to her right and scooped up an Anna LaBoccetta ground ball just as she got to the bag to save on run in the fourth and Palase dived to her left in the circle to snare a ball.
“A lot of times our defense doesn’t get to show its true skills,” Morano said.
Tottenville will need to do the same thing one more time this season if it is going to again be crowned the PSAL champion. So how will Morano feel when her team meets No. 2 James Madison at St. John’s University? The Knights lost to the Pirates 9-5 during the regular season and just 4-2 in last season’s final.
“Forget about it,” she said. “I’m going to be a nervous wreck again.”