Sunday, May 31, 2009

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – Immaculate Heart Academy has learned throughout the season how to win games in its last at-bat. The never-say-die attitude has resonated through the entire team with each person hoping to play the role of the hero. However the quiet hero on the team all season, senior catcher Juliette D’Ambrosio, saw her high school career slowly slipping away on Saturday afternoon. What hurt worse was that it was happening against a new-found rival in Mount St. Dominic and on the field she called home for her entire varsity career.

All D’Ambrosio wanted was an opportunity to make something happen that would allow her and her teammates to put on an IHA uniform at least one more time. With runners on the corners and two outs in a tie game in the bottom of the seventh inning, she stepped to the plate with that opportunity squarely in front of her. It was an opportunity that was not wasted.

D’Ambrosio laced a hard single to left that scored Kelsey Trujillo with the winning run as top-seeded IHA advanced to the Non-Public North A championship game with a thrilling 5-4 triumph over fourth-seeded Mount St. Dominic.

“I think I’ve aged 36 years in the last 10 days,” said IHA head coach Anthony Larezza, referring to this win following the three-run comeback in the ninth inning that beat Pascack Valley in the Bergen County Tournament final and a nailbiting 1-0 win in the bottom of the seventh against upstart DePaul in the Non-Public A quarterfinals. “But we hit the ball and we got some big two-out hits when we badly needed them. Everything is magnified in a state tournament because if you lose, your season is over. I’m just glad we got out of here with a win.”

IHA got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the first when Taylor Cosentino’s sacrifice fly scored Trujillo, but the Mount answered quickly in the top of the second.

After a pair of uncharacteristic walks from Christina Miquel, Maria DeLuca roped a single back through the box, scoring both Christina Giglio and Bice Lizza to put the Lady Lions in front, 2-1.

The lead flip-flopped again when Jen Keller had an RBI single and Cosentino scored on an error in the outfield with IHA grabbing a 3-2 lead. But as they did earlier in the game, the Lions got those runs back in their next at-bat.

After a one-out double in the top of the fifth from Rebecca Gorney, Nena Lizza brought her home with an RBI single that tied the game. Errors on back-to-back plays allowed Lizza to score with Mount St. Dominic (22-6-1) jumping back in front, 4-3. It was then that the IHA players were hit with the reality that this might be it for them if they did not hit the ball well over the final three innings.

“We didn’t want this season to end and we were going to do anything possible to keep it going,” said D’Ambrosio. “When they took the lead, we felt confident because we still got last licks. We had to relax and play like we’ve been playing all year.”

Trujillo and Cosentino redeemed themselves in the bottom half of the fifth. Trujillo drew a walk and came all the way around to score on a long double from Cosentino to knot the score at 4.

The Lions threatened again in the sixth until a heads-up play by freshman second baseman Carly Piccinich helped IHA avert a dangerous situation. After Christina Giglio reached on an error, Jamie Purcell dropped down a sac bunt and Piccinich covered first for the out. She then wheeled and fired to second where shortstop Nikki Osofsky raced in behind Giglio and slapped on the tag for the second out of the inning.

“That was a huge, huge play,” added Larezza. “I think that gave us a little more momentum going into the seventh inning.”

Trujillo was again the catalyst with a leadoff single. With one out and a full count, Trujillo broke for second on the pitch and Cosentino hit a ground ball to second. The throw went to second to try to get the force, but Trujillo just beat the throw to put runners on first and second before a fly ball moved her to third with two outs and D’Ambrosio coming to the plate.

She was hoping to a pitch low in the strike zone that she could drive and that was exactly what she got. She roped a knee-high fastball through the left side of the infield and plated Trujillo with the winning run.

“I got the pitch I wanted, so I was trying to make good contact,” said D’Ambrosio. “Their infield, especially the left side of their infield, made great plays all game. Somehow I was able to hit the ball on the ground hard enough where it got through.”

Trujillo scored three runs and Cosentino had two RBI’ for IHA (26-2). Miquel allowed just three hits, walked two, and had three Ks. Kaitlyn McGillycuddy had the Blue Eagles’ only other hit.

IHA will face their archrival on Tuesday for the Non-Public North A title and the right to go down to Toms River for the state final. The top-seeded Blue Eagles will take on sixth-seeded Paramus Catholic at Ivy Hill Park in Newark at 4:00.

“No matter who we’re playing, we’re just happy we’re still playing,” said Larezza. “At this point, there are nothing but very good teams left. We were fortunate to get by a very good one today. We made some plays, we missed some others. But right now, it’s all about surviving and advancing; and we found a way to move on.”

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