Mildred Piscopo could take a sigh of relief in the third inning. Once her Poly Prep softball team gets some run support for junior ace Victoria Capozucca, the Blue Devils are almost a lock to win. And when Rachel Sloane slammed a two-out, two-RBI double in the third inning to extend the lead to four, it was almost as good as getting the game-winning hit.
“We haven’t given up a lot of runs all year,” the coach said.
Capozucca took it from there. She gave up two runs, none earned, on three hits and stuck out 10 to lead No. 1 Poly Prep to a 4-2 win over No. 5 Horace Mann on Monday afternoon in the NYSAISAA semifinals in Brooklyn. Poly, which has won the last three titles, will meet either No. 2 Holy Child, which beat No. 7 Fieldston on Monday, or No. 3 Rye Country Day in the championship game Wednesday afternoon at Columbia University.
“We were never down, but it certainly wasn’t an easy game,” Piscopo said.
University of Pennsylvania-bound shortstop Stephanie Caso went 2-for-3 and scored a run and Capozucca drove in a run in the first inning with a sacrifice fly against Horace Mann senior starter Catie Barile. Poly, which beat No. 8 Packer, 17-0, on Sunday, was originally supposed to play in the semifinals Tuesday against the winner of a quarterfinal game between Hackley and Horace Mann, but Hackley pulled out of the tournament Monday morning due to a flu outbreak.
“I’m happy we played today and didn’t wait until tomorrow,” Piscopo said.
Barile was the hard-luck loser. She gave up four runs, one earned, on five hits and struck out three without a walk in six innings. Piscopo said she pitched a smart game and that was what marked her career at Horace Mann.
“She keeps the ball in play,” said coach Ray Barile, also her father. “She moves the ball, she hits spots.”
Freshman Cara Annunziata and sophomore Sarah Sicular each had RBIs for Mann. Both of them will be key members of the Lions in the future.
Poly beat Horace Mann, 5-3 and 6-0, in the regular season. Errors and mistakes hurt the entire team Monday, though.
“We couldn’t come up with the ball,” Ray Barile said. “It was just little things.”
Barile kept her team in the game, but it wasn’t enough to pull out the victory. The Blue Devils will be going for a fourth straight NYSAISAA title Wednesday.
“I think,” Piscopo said, “the bats are gonna come back around.”
