Wagner sophomore pitcher Taylor Sarcone crushed a home run in the sixth to spark a 15-run rally. (Philip Hall)
It was a score that has to be seen to be believed. It was a game that seemed like it wouldn’t end. And, aside from the top of the sixth inning, it was a wild, back-and-forth affair.
“I’ve never been involved in a game like that,” Susan Wagner coach Marco Altieri said.
The bizarre afternoon finished with Wagner beating Cardozo, 27-10 in six innings, in PSAL Class A crossover softball Thursday in Bayside. The Falcons put together a 15-run sixth inning after leading just 12-10 after five.
“It was like a football game,” Falcons junior centerfielder Danielle Locke said with a laugh.
Wagner (5-1 Staten Island A), which came in ranked No. 6 in The Post’s NYC rankings, was up 8-4 in the second inning off Cardozo sophomore pitcher Alyssa Annicaro, who is filling in for her sister, Amanda. The elder Annicaro is battling a yet-to-be-diagnosed injury and was feeling better until she got a high fever Wednesday night and had to be rushed to the hospital.
The Judges (3-1 Queens A-I), though, exploded for six runs in the third off Falcons starter Taylor Sarcone to take a 10-8 lead. The big blow was a grand slam by catcher Sam Mersten.
“They were putting up runs,” Altieri said. “They can swing the bats. Any mistake we made, they capitalized.”
That was the last time Cardozo would score though. Sarcone settled down and Wagner went up 12-10 in the top of fifth inning courtesy of RBI hits by Krystal Howard, Tara Devlin and Christine Zipf. Sarcone set the tone for the huge sixth inning with a bomb of a two-run home run with nobody out. The sophomore said that her pitching was off and she wanted to make up for it with her bat.
“She was upset she wasn’t hitting her spots – and of course, [Cardozo] was hitting, too,” Altieri said. “She thought she should have done better. If that’s going to motivate her, that’s fine.”
In the sixth, Annicaro, who has done an admirable job filling in for her sister this season, was worn down and Cardozo coach Larry Alberts went to freshman Shelby Yacovone. She struggled with her control – Wagner drew seven walks in the inning and batted around twice. Sarcone retired the Judges in order –the first 1-2-3 inning of the day – in the sixth to earn the run-rule victory.
“I don’t think I’ve seen a score like this, except in Little League,” Sarcone said.
She went 3-for-6 with seven RBIs and four runs scored. Locke was 4-for-7 with three RBIs and three runs scored, Victoria Percoco was 3-for-3 with four walks, four runs scored and two RBIs and Devlin was 3-for-4 with two walks, three runs and an RBI. Kayla Grieco, Jennifer Greenberg, Dayna Williams and Howard all scored three times apiece and every Falcon scored at least once in the sixth.
Altieri said the offensive outburst has a lot to do with the PSAL moving the pitcher’s rubber back from 40 feet to 43 feet, which is the regulation distance.
“Those three feet make a big difference,” he said. “The average hitters become good hitters and the good hitters become great hitters.”
It was certainly all about the hitters on this day.