RKA bests Kennedy in pivotal game

If you have been following the exploits of the David A. Stein Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy (M.S./H.S. 141, RKA) and John F. Kennedy Campus softball teams this season, you would know the one thing the two programs have in common is the way in which they have both piled up wins. They don’t just beat their opponents, they pound them into submission.

RKA came into last Friday’s showdown with Kennedy having scored at least 20 runs in a game five times, even topping 30 runs in a game once. Kennedy topped 20 runs in a game twice while topping 17 runs on two other occasions.

So when the two Bronx heavyweights met at Riverdale Playground in a battle of unbeatens no one was exactly sure what to expect. What you got was an outstanding pitching performance from RKA’s Samantha Torres, who struck out 13 as well as logging three hits with four RBI at the plate as the Tigers upended the Lady Knights, 9-5, in a pivotal PSAL ‘B’ Division contest.

“I still believe they are our main competition,” Torres said. “Both teams have played really well this year. But I like when it’s competitive like this game because it challenges both teams.”

RKA, which dropped down to the ‘B’ Division this year, was facing a proven Kennedy team that had reached the PSAL Final Four two seasons ago before reaching the city championship game last year. So when the Tigers jumped out of an 8-0 lead after three and a half innings against Kennedy’s stellar sophomore starter Stacy Hernandez, the Lady Knights found themselves in some uncharted territory.

“We made some errors in that first inning and we dug ourselves a hole and we just couldn’t get out of it, Kennedy coach Keith Mansfield said. “And I don’t think we were ready for that type of pitcher.”

Torres was masterful from the start as she struck out two in the first inning and two more in the second before striking out the side in the third. And while Torres was piling up strikeouts, the Tigers offense was piling up runs.

A run-scoring groundout by Torres followed by an RBI single by Liandry Almonte in the first inning gave RKA a quick 2-0 lead. The Tigers added two more in the second inning when Delilah Delgado singled in Laura Saer before Torres plated Delgado with a double for a 4-0 RKA lead. It became 5-0 in the third inning courtesy of Sophie Pincus’ single to left field, which scored Jhadeliz Polanco before a three-run uprising in the top of the fourth gave the Tigers an 8-0 cushion.

But even at that point, and with his ace cruising on the mound, RKA coach Robert Dicanio couldn’t relax.

“As a coach, I’m coaching from the first pitch to the last out so I’m never happy with any lead,” Dicanio said. “It’s never enough so I’m always leery of giving up runs.”

Late rally

Dicanio was right not to think the game was locked up for RKA as Kennedy finally got to Torres in the bottom of the fourth when the Lady Knights struck three times to trim their deficit to 8-3 with three innings left to play. The big blow in the inning came on Nathalie Leon’s two-run triple.

Torres logged two more strikeouts in the fifth for RKA but Kennedy managed to score again when Kimberly Zapata stole home to make it 8-4. And after RKA left the bases loaded in the top of the sixth without scoring, Kennedy inched even closer with another run in their half of the sixth when Johanna Duran scored on an RKA error.

But after RKA gave itself a little breathing room when the Tigers (8-0) scored a run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Torres, the stellar senior right-hander shut down any hope of a Kennedy (7-1) comeback by striking out the side in the last of the seventh to secure the win for RKA.

Afterwards Torres discussed why she had so much success against Kennedy.

“I know their catcher Cristina [Ocasio Gonzalrez] and I know their shortstop Kimberly [Zapata] because we played on the same team over the summer,” Torres said. “So for me as a pitcher, I know where their weak points are when they’re up at bat. So I played with their heads a little bit and I used that to my advantage. But it’s all sportsmanship at the end of the game. We still have two more games with them in the regular season so it was good to know what we can do against them.”

“We both had the same record going into this game so we knew it was going to have some implications, but who knows what’s going to happen with the rest of the year?” Dicanio said. There are still [seven] games left so we still have our work cut out for us. They’re a very good team and this was a tough, tough game.”

The two teams are scheduled to meet for a second time on Wednesday, May 4 with the final regular-season matchup slated for Tuesday, May 10. The winner of those matchups more than likely will claim the division title.

“We were in the Final Four two years ago and we were in the championship game last year, so these girls know how to battle and know how to fight,” Mansfield said of his Lady Knights. 

“They’re used to winning and as a coach, you don’t ever want to lose. But this was a wake-up call,” he continued. “This will make them fight more and work harder in practice and I expect my key players to step up and take those girls down next time. These girls are fighters. They hustle, they work hard and they do everything I ask of them and the next time we face them I think it will be another good game and I expect to win next time.”