By:Tony Bellissimo
We struggled against two premier pitchers and scored runs against two teams we expected to hit, Coach Dom Fontana said after the Lady Falcons fell to .500 with a 1-0 loss to county runner-up Floral Park last Thursday in a game completed from March 26. We-re not very hungry right now, Fontana said. I don-t know if it-s because we reached the finals three years in a row and won two championships, but we-re going through the motions a little. I would like to think we-ll put on our game faces soon.
Floral Park-s winning pitcher Crista Cerrone also scored the winning run on a throwing error in the top of the ninth inning. She was in total command of South-s hitters, both on Thursday and two weeks earlier, striking out 15 in the game while scattering four hits.
We faced her in last year-s finals and beat her 1-0 and struck out only three times, Fontana said of Cerrone. It wasn-t a speed issue, it was a curve issue. She kept the hitters off-balance and we didn-t make the kind of adjustments that we should.
Junior hurler Diana DiPiano was equally as dominant in the loss, allowing only four hits and one walk while striking out eight. Diana is getting stronger as we go along, Fontana said of the All-Long Island selection. She didn-t throw a lot over the winter, but she tends to heat up when the weather gets warmer so I-m not concerned.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for South, which beat conference foes Lynbrook (9-2) and Plainedge (9-0) as well as Wheatley in a non-league game. The opener was a forgettable 8-0 loss to Clarke and Clarke pitcher Emily Hiltzik.
I was hoping we could have squeaked by Floral Park to get to 3-1 [in the conference], Fontana said. This isn-t exactly where I thought we-d be, but there-s a long way to go and I-m expecting us to peak come playoff time like we have the past three years.
Senior Michelle Cannata sparked the offense in the two conference victories, going 2-for-4 and driving in a run against Lynbrook and 3-for-3 with 5 RBIs versus Plainedge. DiPiano had similar solid performances in both games, allowing one hit and striking out 11. For good measure, DiPiano cracked a three-run homer against Lynbrook.
We have to put the two losses on the back burner and use them as wake-up calls, Fontana said. We-re still trying to find some consistency, and the good thing is it-s still early.
The Lady Falcons visit Franklin Square-s Carey on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
