Wildcats hit stumbling block after quick start

Published 11:45 pm Tuesday, March 19, 2013

By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE – A much-improved East St. John team hit a bit of a speed bump in its schedule, falling 11-0 to Academy of Our Lady Monday and 9-7 to Higgins last week.

The two losses dropped East St. John to a record of 5-6 this season – that is still one win off of last season’s victory total, when ESJ went 6-19 overall.

East St. John fell behind 4-0 in the first inning on Monday and never recovered.

“We made four errors in the first inning and that put us in a bad spot from the very beginning,” said East St. John coach Stasha Thomas, who is in her first season as head coach after serving as an assistant under Monica Hebert. “We’ve been playing better defensively this season, but today we had our issues with that.”

The game ended after five innings due to the 10-run rule.

AOL pitcher Taylor Toledano was the star of the day. She pitched a complete game one-hitter while nailing down a shutout. She struck out 11 while walking and hitting one batter.

“She pitched a good game. We were never really able to adjust,” said Thomas. “The strike zone was a little different than we were used to and some of our players got a little rattled by that. But complaining about it does you no good. It’s on us to adjust to it.”

Toledano finished the day 4 for 4 with a double and three RBIs.

AOL (11-5) led 4-0 entering the fourth inning where it broke things open with five runs. Three runs scored on errors. Toledano and Jenna Parker each collected RBIs in the inning, helping to make it 9-0.

In the fifth inning, Alyssa Cressione’s RBI single and Alexis Musacchia’s sacrifice fly drove in the 10th and 11th runs of the game, leading to the 10-run rule victory.

Erykah Cemelien doubled for East St. John’s lone hit of the day.

Against Higgins (6-8), East St. John rallied back from a 5-0 deficit and had a chance to tie or win in the seventh inning. Emily Durapau registered a pinch hit single to bring the tying run to the plate with one out, but Higgins was able to close things out for the win.

“From the third inning, it was a back and forth game. We started really slow, which cost us,” said Thomas. “Emily stepped up in a big spot for us late. We just fell a bit short.”