By Brian T. Dessart
"I was really scared," Knoch said. "I was hoping it would all work out."
The senior was able to set her feelings aside and with an RBI single, she drove home Candice Maietti, helping boost the Lady Cyclones to a 8-6 victory over East Rockaway, on Tuesday afternoon.
But East Rockaway did jolt the Lady Cyclones in a late-game rally. Sara Burggraf's single in the bottom of the fifth inning drove home Nicole Morreale, helping the Lady Rocks close within one, 5-4.
"I was happy to see the bats come alive a bit," East Rockaway coach Joseph Lores said. "The bottom of the order is contributing ... [Meghan] Dolce has been swinging a nice bat."
Alison Cerasoli's single in the bottom of the sixth scored Addie Cappello, tying contest 5-5. Then, Dolce's double to leftfield brought Cerasoli home, guiding East Rockaway to a 6-5 advantage.
But South Side coach Barry Bresky was confident. "We were capable of coming back," Bresky said. "I told them, 'we are down by one run ... if we can't score one run at the top of the [batting] order, we don't deserve to win.' And we scored three."
Knoch added: "If we worked as a team we would be able to do it," she said. "We like to show our support to each other - we like to keep everybody's spirits high."
After holding East Rockaway to one lone base in the bottom of the second, South Side tallied the first run of the game in the top of the third, on a run from Julie Oliver. Maietti, Danielle Ziff and Lainie Schwartz combined for three additional passes over home plate, granting South Side a 4-1 lead at the end of the inning. East Rockaway's first run was recorded after a triple to right centerfield by Heather Loughran scored Morreale.
"They have to get themselves motivated," Bresky said of his players. "It's their game."
South Side's Hillary Hirsch struck out eight, while Loughran and Dolce fanned 10.
"This league is anybody, any day," Lores said. "I think it's really good preparation for the playoffs."
