By Joseph Staszewski
Courtney Fitzgerald-Cardot added another prestigious honor to a softball career full of them.
The Fresh Meadows native, along with eight others, was inducted into the St. John’s University Athletics Hall of Fame June 11. Fitzgerald, a former standout at Mary Louis, can add this to being put into the GCHSAA Hall of Fame in 2011. She said she was floored when Red Storm athletic director Chris Monasch called to tell her the news.
“It’s kind of like the icing on the cake for me,” Fitzgerald-Cardot said. “Being from Queens and coming to St. John’s and being inducted into the Hall of Fame is something awesome. I don’t know if I can put it into words. It’s over the top for me.”
Her résumé at St. John’s speaks for itself. Fitzgerald-Cardot is the winningest pitcher in school history with 59 wins during her four-year career, some of the best in program history. Fitzgerald holds program records in appearances (102), innings pitched (711 2/3) and shutouts (21).
She earned All-Big East second team honors as a senior as she posted 1.55 ERA and a .197 batting average against her. In 2003, she led the Johnnies to a victory over nationally ranked Fresno State after pitching 21 innings in a game against Seton Hall in 2000.
“We played against numerous Top 25 teams and succeeded against a couple of them,” Fitzgerald-Cardot said.
She picked St. John’s to be close to home and softball and still close to her heart. Fitzgerald-Cardot continues to give private pitching lessons near her home in Rochester, where she lives with her husband Andy and three children Irene, 4; Ashlyn, 3; and Andrew, 19 months.
Fitzgerald-Cardot, an assistant coach at St. John’s for the 2004-05 season, will be heading back to the bench in the near future to coach Irene and she will see where that takes her.
“I do think about coaching now that my daughter is interested in tee ball,” Fitzgerald-Cardot said. “I definitely will be a tee ball coach soon.”
