Nobody Wins The Veronicas
Lacy Tortelli
DEMAREST - In the bottom of the fourth senior Veronica Corcoran ripped a 3-1 pitch into center field to break a 4-4 tie and give Demarest a 6-4 lead en route to an 8-4 victory over Lenape Valley May 31 in the North 1, Group 2 semifinals.
"Coach asked me if I wanted to bunt or swing away," Corcoran said, "and I said, 'I want to swing away.' I've been hitting with confidence lately, swinging at Teels and our practices have been awesome. Our team was loud cheering me on and that helps me too."
Senior third baseman Pamela Ng had opened the inning by drawing a walk. After senior Samantha Maniscalco bunted Ng over to second, Corcoran's twin sister, Victoria, followed with a base hit to center to put runners on second and third with nobody out. (Victoria Corcoran had made it to second after a rundown play failed to get her out).
"I don't know a lot of Bergen County softball," said Patriots coach Bill Moore, "but I read about the twins and I knew. With runners on second and third [you] don't let this girl beat you. We threw everything outside but she went and got it. She's a great hitter - that's what happens.
Norsewoman sophomore Ellen Hamlin was up next and she reached on an error, moving Veronica Corcoran to third. Corcoran scored the third run of the inning on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Demarest's sophomore pitcher Makenzie McGrath to make it 7-4.
Demarest tacked on their eighth run in the sixth when McGrath reached on an error with two outs. Junior Michelle Diehl moved courtesy runner Meadow Garcia (in for McGrath) to second with an infield single and Garcia came around to score on another infield error.
The last time was a 10-0 pasting of Pompton Lakes in the opening round of the state playoffs. In the four games before that, however, they lost to Dumont, 3-2, in the county tournament; 1-0 to Mahwah; 1-0 to Indian Hills and in a tuneup game before states they lost to Mt. St. Dominic, 3-1.
"I just told the girls we play a monster schedule," said Moore. "That's why we came in as a No. 11 seed and knocked off Westwood and Ramsey. They weren't expecting us, coming in at 12-12. With the loss to Demarest eight of our 13 losses are to Top 20 teams.
Senior Katie Maiello, the leadoff batter, was safe on an error and she moved all the way to third when senior Antoinette Simonetti's attempted sacrifice bunt was thrown into right field. Maiello scored on junior Nicole Catalina's sacrifice fly to right.
Victoria Corcoran walked and stole second. Veronica Corcoran smacked a full count pitch into left field. Victoria moved to third as Veronica steamed into second. Victoria scored when Hamlin was safe on a fielder's choice and Veronica scored on an infield out.
"We jumped out and got that run in the first inning," said Moore. "I was hoping to get a little more to put some pressure on them. But they came right back - they're a good team - and when they get on the bases they create havoc. We haven't faced a lot of teams that do that this year. As the game went on we did a better job with them on the bases."
Diehl reached when she was hit by a pitch. Senior catcher Haley Pontillo knocked in Hamlin with a single to left and Diehl scored the fourth run of the inning on junior Claudia Mattes' sacrifice fly to center.
"It was a great start for us offensively," said Demarest coach Keith Johnson. "We executed well, put some balls in play and got some bunts down. I told the girls before the game the team that executes the best is going to win this game. Offensively we did well initially but I thought we also did well throughout the game. It was a relief after they put one up early, to come back with four."
"Coach tells us you always want to press every inning," Veronica Corcoran said. "To go down 1-0 and get four runs was really big for us. We knew we had to score more because our defense wasn't as good as we wanted it to be. But our offense definitely stepped up. It's usually the other way. Usually our defense has been stepping up for our offense."
Senior Alex Dell'Arena led off with a bunt for a base hit and stole second. Maiello plated her with a single to left. McGrath retired the next two batters but junior catcher Milena Lacatena got the first of her three hits in the game to knock in Maiello and trim Demarest's lead to 4-3.
"For us defensively it wasn't our best effort today," said Johnson. "I think we could have sharpened up a few things and made it a little easier on us. But credit to them - they're a good team and they stuck in it, stayed in the game and got it to a 4-4 tie. Then we answered the bell again with some timely hitting and good baserunning. I'm very proud of my group."
Later in that third inning the Patriots had runners on first and second with two outs when Simonetti blasted a bounding ball up the middle. McGrath backhanded the ball and flipped it to first baseman Jessica Muti to end the inning.
"When we found out we were playing Lenape Valley," McGrath said, "we were like, 'ooh no, we don't know about them.' We got film on them and Haley (Pontillo) and I studied the film. We talked to other players on Ramsey and found out what to throw. So we were pretty prepared. You can't go into the game knowing everything but we had an idea."
"We knew we had to step our game up," McGrath said. "We knew they were out to get us. We have the target on our backs. They were upsetting everyone so we knew we had to really step it up, go at them hard and get runs in the first inning. I'm so excited. We're here, so why not just win it?"
"The feeling is so real now," Veronica Corcoran said. "We're literally one game away [from Group 2 title game]. We've worked so hard for four years now - from being a less than .500 team to being above .500 and then way above .500. This would be a perfect end to my high school career."
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