The celebration was on. The Tottenville players mobbed sophomore Jennifer Palase at home plate and senior Lisa Cutrona jumped up on the fence nearest the Pirates supporters to fire them up. It was clear they felt like they had the game won, but at that point it was a tie in the bottom of the seventh inning.
“They had their momentum,” Cutrona explained. “Now we had momentum over them.”
But Madison pitcher Kayla Hill got out of the inning with just the one run scoring and the Knights rallied for three huge runs in the top of the eighth. Just about 20 minutes after feeling overjoyed, top-seed Tottenville was shocked in a 5-2 loss to No. 2 Madison in the PSAL Class A city title game Sunday at St. John’s University. The Pirates’ streak of six straight softball titles, the most in league history, came to a dramatic end.
“This is tough,” Cutrona said. “This is gonna linger. This is not something that’s just gonna blow over.”
The Tottenville players were devastated after the loss. The three four-year seniors – Cutrona, shortstop Tara Gallo and right fielder Christina Penna – met just outside the dugout in a long embrace. After losing five stars to graduation, the Pirates (21-1) were dying to prove themselves and extend the dynasty. No one felt that more than outstanding junior pitcher Nicole Palase.
“I wanted to go home with a win so bad,” she said through tears. “I put my heart out there. I guess it wasn’t enough.”
Tottenville carried a 1-0 lead into the seventh on her incredible pitching performance. Nicole Palase had a no-hitter until Hill singled with one out in the sixth. But Madison first baseman Nikki Panaro, leading off the seventh, crushed a long home run to center field to tie the game at 1. It was a definitive momentum swing.
“I threw it right down the middle,” Nicole Palase said, shaking her head. “I should have thrown it out of the strike zone.”
Added coach Cathy Morano: “When I came to the mound [after the homer], she was a mess out there.”
The Knights would get another run in the inning to take a 2-1 lead going to the bottom of the seventh. But the Pirates didn’t lay down and die from there. With two outs, Jennifer Palase ripped a double into the leftfield corner and she came around on an error by Maria Mantagas at third base to tie the score at 2.
The celebration, though, was a bit premature. Madison (19-1) rallied with two outs in the top of the eighth with four singles that scored three runs. Tottenville went down in order in the bottom half.
“We could have hit more,” Cutrona said. “The whole point is there wasn’t just one play. We didn’t score enough.”
Last year, Tottenville beat Madison, 4-2, in a dramatic final. The Knights were ahead 2-0 in the sixth then. The shoe was on the other foot this year and the Tots were not the last team standing for the first time since 2003 when they lost to Midwood in the championship.
“We’ve had a great six years,” Morano said, “and the seniors were a big part of that.”
