By Joseph Staszewski
Emily Perez lofted a ball down the left field line with a chance to send Construction to the semifinals. The junior third baseman didn’t need to see that it landed right on the foul line to bring home Britney Rodriguez for the winning run. She just listened to the cheers from her dugout and watched the reaction of first base Coach Tito Rodriguez.
“I thought it was a foul ball and then when they started cheering I was like, ‘Oh’” Perez said. “I just ran. I heard my first base coach yelling, telling me I’m clutch.”
The walk-off single gave top-seeded Construction a thrilling 5-4 victory over No. 9 Telecommunications in the PSAL Class A softball quarterfinals Thursday at Smokey Oval Park in Richmond Hill. It was the completion of an at bat in which Perez, who was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, fouled off multiple pitches from Yellow Jackets ace Thalia Santiago before finally delivering the big hit. It’s something she’s done throughout her career.
“Emily is the type of player who comes up when we need her,” Rodriguez said. “Every time we need her to hit she hits.”
The Red Hawks (17-1), had jumped out to an early lead before watching Telecom scratch back. Rodriguez, who was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning. Construction plated three more runs in the third thanks to a Telecom error and run-scoring singles from Perez and Jenasez Alves to take a 4-0 lead. Santiago allowed two earned runs on 11 hits and 10 strikeouts.
“We knew we were facing a very good pitcher,” Construction Coach Marco Migliaccio said. “It was pretty good to score off of her.”
Telecom (16-4) got itself back into the game by scoring twice in the fifth to make it 4-2 thanks to two Construction errors and an RBI groundout by Santiago. A two-RBI double down the left field line by Kristen Gutekunst tied the score at 4-4 in the sixth.
Things nearly got worse for Construction when Susan Gutekunst sent a hard groundball toward second base. Red Hawks freshman Lizul Portugal made a diving stop. She threw from her knees to get the out at first and stop the go ahead run from scoring. Migliaccio said they had worked on making Portugal more comfortable making diving stops like that.
“It was just amazing,” Perez said of the play
Rodriguez, one of the city’s top pitchers, turned in another strong outing. She allowed seven hits and struck out eight. Rodriguez stranded Telecom runners with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth and left runners on second and third with two outs in the seventh to help ensure Construction’s victory.
The Red Hawks take on No. 5 James Madison at the College of Staten Island Saturday at 10 a.m. Construction has its sites set on bringing home a second-straight crown.
“This is my last year,” Rodriguez said. “I want to go out strong. I want my team to go out strong.”
No. 2 Bayside 11, No. 7 George Washington 7: The Commodores rallied from a 7-0 second inning deficit to reach their first semifinal since 2008. Ace Heidi Gomez settled down and the Bayside bats chipped away at the lead after Commodores Coach Steve Piorkowski told his team not to panic
“Score a run here, score a run there and just piecemeal it back,” he said.
That’s exactly what they did. Tara Bernstein delivered a two-run homer in the fourth inning to close the gap to 7-5. Bayside finally broke out with a six-run, sixth inning to grab an 11-7 advantage. Sophomore Victoria Perez contributed a two-run homer in the inning to give Bayside a 10-7 lead.
The Commodores face No. 2 Tottenville in the final four at 4:45 p.m. Saturday at CSI.
“They got up and fought,” Piorkowski said. “Good for them. That is fun. They had a good time.”
