It was not the ending to the season James Madison wanted.
The pain from the extra-inning loss in the softball semifinals only goes away if the game becomes a stepping stone to a storybook finish next season.
Ace Isabella Gerone slumped over, hands on her knee, as the ball Susan Wagner’s Kerri Kelly hit to left field to score the winning run was thrown back into the infield. The junior looked like she wanted to throw another pitch immediately. That will have to wait until next March after Madison lost a one-run seventh-inning lead before falling 5–4 a frame later last Saturday.
“For next year, I think we all see what we need to do and how we have to act,” said Gerone.
The Golden Knights graduate just two seniors and the majority of the roster is made up of sophomores. That includes starting outfielder Gabrielle Grimes, who was academically ineligible for the playoffs.
“Hopefully, next year they do the right thing — it is student-athlete — and they will be playing the whole season,” Madison coach Thomas Mobilia said.
Missing players aside, the year was still a step forward for Madison. It won its division outright and showed plenty of toughness on its way to the semifinals.
It wasn’t ready for the stage of the final four last year. It was Mobilia’s first trip there as well as his players. They lost 10–0 in five innings to then-defending champion Construction. Madison learned from that. It came to the College of Staten Island expecting to win, not just hoping to, and was better prepared to compete.
“They know what it was about,” Mobilia said. “The stage didn’t shock them this time. They knew what to expect. We got here early and went to the cages. We did everything that we had to do.”
The next thing to do is to win, not just come close.
Madison will be a veteran team next year, and will have two of the city’s best players in Gerone and shortstop Taylor Trim. Madison last won a Public School Athletic League Class A title in 2010 when Kayla Hill controlled the Tottenville bats for eight innings.
There is no reason that shouldn’t be the goal again next year, and Madison will be even more prepared to take that next step. A break here, a break there, and the Golden Knights would be playing for the crown at St. John’s University this weekend.
Instead, Madison’s demeanor changed after Wagner tied the score in the bottom of the seventh. The crispness from the first seven frames let up a bit and an error opened the door for Wagner in the eighth.
Madison learned from its semifinal appearance a year ago. If it does so again, a title will be within its grasp.
“It’s definitely a step in the right direction,” Trim said. “I’m a sophomore. I hope to return to semis next year again and take it even further. We definitely get something from each time we come here.”
