DiSALV0 TOSSES 1-HITTER, 12 K’S; LLANO 2-FOR-3, 3 RBI

Highly improved skills across the board plus a special motivation placed the eighth-seeded Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School softball team in a good position mentally to perform well against the fourth-seeded AL Johnson (ALJ) Crusaders in the semifinal round of the Union County Tournament (UCT) at Kean University on May 16. Raider pitcher Olivia DiSalvo was at the top of her game, allowing just one hit and one walk, while striking out 12 in a 3-0 victory.

Raider Head Coach Matt Giannacio expressed, “Everything so far has been incredible. These girls deserve every ounce of credit because they are the ones hitting it, throwing it, running it and catching it. They come into work every single day. They buy into what the coaches say. We have 16 girls who are coachable. It’s fun to be around these girls every day. We are what you call a tight knit family.”

DiSalvo struck out the first five Crusaders she faced and retired the first 14 batters until she walked Shannon Lancellotti with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning but a great gun down of her pinch runner, Jill Duffy, by catcher Sam Friscia provided the third out. The only hit DiSalvo allowed was a two-out double off the left-centerfield wall to Cassie Conforti in the bottom of the seventh inning.

“Liv is for real! People don’t realize that last year, she broke her wrist in the first scrimmage of the season. We didn’t have her all year. She is a difference maker, Her committing early to SUNI Cortland also lets her come out here and play every day and give her best and not have to worry about any pressure of where she’s going,” Coach Giannacio explained. “The kid’s a gamer!”

After a 4-3, 10-inning loss to Westfield on April 30, the Raiders went into a short slump and dropped two more games, which pushed them back to the eighth seed for the UCT. However, it did not seem to matter as they edged the ninth-seeded Summit Hilltoppers, 3-2, in the first round then knocked off the top-seeded Governor Livingston Highlanders, 5-0, to get the opportunity to face ALJ. The 15-10 Crusaders beat the 13th-seeded Roselle Park Panthers, 5-2, then salvaged a 1-0 victory over the fifthseeded Westfield Blue Devils in the quarterfinal round.

“Last week against Westfield, that loss actually started the worst week of our season. We lost three games in a row. It set us down in the seedings to get the eighth seed. But at the same time, I also believe that those losses made us stronger,” Coach Giannacio commented.

Conforti, the Crusader pitcher, also performed well and yielded six hits and only one walk, while striking out eight Raiders. The big gun for the Raiders was Sairah Llano, who rapped an RBI single in the top of the fourth inning and slammed a two-run double in the seventh inning. Angelina Valente went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Emily Roof and DiSalvo both went 1-for-3 with a run scored (courtesy runner Sam Marcolina scored for DiSalvo).

Valente looped a short two-out single into shallow right field in the first inning but Conforti got the next batter to ground out to second baseman Gianna Calleja. In the fourth, Valente slashed a single to right and advanced to second on a passed ball. After two infield outs, Siarah Llano hooked an RBI single into right field for a 1-0 lead.

Raider leftfielder Valente hauled in Conforti’s deep fly ball in the fourth inning. Lancellotti drew her two-out walk in the ALJ fifth and in came her pinch runner Duffy, who attempted to steal second but Friscia caught her in the act.

Crusader right fielder Lacey Vill made a great running grab in the sixth inning then after DiSalvo struck out two of the three batters she faced in the ALJ sixth, the Raiders opened what would be a bizarre seventh inning.

DiSalvo lined a single to rightcenter and in came courtesy runner Marcolina. Roof beat out a bunt single but the throw headed toward the ALJ dugout and bounced off a plastic bucket where Vill grabbed the ball and seemingly nailed Marcolina trying to score. After a discussion by the umpires, they ruled a dead ball and Marcolina went back to third base and Roof returned to second with no one out. Llano stepped to the plate and drilled her two-run double off the centerfield wall. Conforti struck out the next two batters and walked Julia Friedrichs. Friscia lofted a difficult looper into shallow right but Vill made a shoelace snag for the third out.

DiSalvo got Liz Fitzharris to pop up to the catcher for the first out of the seventh inning then struck out Liz Yanni for the second out and was on the verge of a no-hitter. Conforti stepped up and launched her double to left-center. Madden Puerari’s fly ball to center was hauled in for the final out.

Before every game, the Raiders could be seen wearing tee shirts with the name “Orsini”. Scotch Plains resident Phil Orsini, a graduate of Westfield circa 1998, hit a two-run home run to help the Blue Devils win the UCT crown.

“We’ve dedicated our season to Phil. We love that guy so much. He’s done so much for our community softball wise for all the kids. We are playing our hearts out for him every single game,” Coach Giannacio explained.

The Raiders would face the Jonathan Dayton Bulldogs on May 20 for the UCT title. The Bulldogs defeated the Cranford Cougars, 4-1, in the other semifinal game. Earning a trip to the UCT championship game would be something that the Raiders have not experienced in quite some time.

Coach Giannacio recalled, “I have been here quite a while and I’ve never been to a county final. These girls deserve every ounce of credit because they’ve done it.”

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