May 13, 2012

Kearny senior Ashleigh Amadeo took a perfect game into the seventh inning. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Ferris at Kearny Softball Photo Gallery

KEARNY – Kearny's Ashleigh Amadeo has had some huge performances in the circle before, Saturday had a different feeling to it. For six-plus innings, Amadeo wasn't just dominant, she was perfect.

Her bid for a perfect game would come up two outs short, but it did little to dampen a brilliant outing which helped propel the Kardinals to a 9-3 victory over Ferris in the quarterfinals of the Hudson County Tournament.

"There's times when she's just on fire," Kearny coach Jim Pickel said. "On other days, I don't know what it is, but today was a good one."

Amadeo came out firing from the start, striking out the first three hitters she faced. Her control was equally on point, only twice getting to a three-ball count over the first six innings.

"It was tough," Ferris coach Tim Palughi said. "We hit the ball, but we popped a lot of balls up. I just kept trying to encourage the girls and they kept their heads up."

As strong as Amadeo was, the fourth-seeded Kardinals (12-8) didn't have a lead to show for it as they were held scoreless by Ferris' Victoria Pessolano. The senior hurler had limited Kearny to just four hits over the first four innings to put the 12th-seeded Bulldogs (6-15) in prime position for a second-straight playoff upset.

It was not to be though as the Kardinal offense took advantage of some defensive miscues and came alive in the fifth. Kelsey French and Kerry Sweeney both reached on errors to start the bottom of the fifth with Nicole Kelly bringing home the game's first run with a RBI groundout.

Spiridoula Dimo followed with a RBI hit of her own and four batters later, Emily Papa delivered the big hit of the inning, a two-run double over the centerfielder's head to make it 5-0.

"It was a good game for four innings," Palughi said. "(Kearny) started hitting the ball to the opposite field well. They took the ball where it was pitched. We made a couple errors and they took advantage."

"I knew pitching wise and defense wise we were fine, but when were we going to score was the thing," Pickel said.

With the way Amadeo was pitching, a 5-0 lead seemed insurmountable. It didn't stop Kearny from adding four more runs in the sixth as it took advantage of two more Bulldog errors. Kristen Stankus punched a two-run single and Vanessa DaSilva had a RBI double as Kearny batted around for the second-straight inning.

Ferris broke Amadeo's perfect game bid when Thalia Hernandez took a four-pitch walk with one out in the seventh. Eddilyn Figueroa got the Bulldogs' first hit on the next at-bat. Hernandez put Ferris on the scoreboard when she scored from third on a double-steal with Figueroa.

Amadeo had to settle for merely a win as she would allow three runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk. She struck out nine.

Dimo, Stankus, Sweeney and Sarah O'Neil all scored two runs apiece for a Kardinals team which moves on to the semifinals for the second-straight year. They will face top-seeded Hoboken on Wednesday.

Pessolano allowed just one earned run on 11 hits and one walk over six innings. She struck out four.

Thalia Hernandez walked and scored Ferris' first run of the game. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Ferris at Kearny Softball Photo Gallery