Rain, Errors Dash Hopes for Dalers State Softball Championship

Every season has to come to an end sometime.

For Farmingdale High School softball, fresh off , this one came to an end a couple of hundred miles from home, and in the pouring rain.

Despite the best efforts of pitcher Isabella Corrao and the Dalers defense - who held eventual state champs John Jay-East Fishkill High School scoreless for five full innings - Farmingdale saw its miracle season end Saturday, just one game shy of the final game.

The end came in the sixth, on a dropped fly ball with two players on and the rain coming down heavy, turning a razor-thin 1-0 lead into a 2-1 deficit. Another cheap run on a passed ball, and it was over.

“It was a tough loss,” said Farmingdale coach Laura Malone. “They got one on when a ball hit Bella’s mitt. I’m not sure if it was a hit or an error, because of the rain. We walked one. Then came the fly ball off the right fielder’s glove.”

That was all John Jay-East Fishkill was able to muster against All-Long Island senior Corrao. But with their own ace holding the Dalers to a single run, Kerri Ossenforst drew a walk with the bases loaded in the first and it was enough.

“I think Bella only allowed one flyball out of the infield,” said Malone. “But their pitcher had a great game, offspeed stuff, nerve, everything.”

The loss put an end to the most successful season in Daler softball history. “Corrao was dominant from the git-go, she had games where she was unbelievable,” said Malone. “That put pressure on the rest of the kids to show it wasn’t a one person team. And they picked up the pace, especially in the playoffs. Players like Kat Zabielski, our go to batter, hit the ball like crazy.”

But in the game of softball, “somebody’s gotta win and somebody’s gotta lose,” said Malone. “Do we think we could have won the state championships? Yes. But I’m extremely proud of the kids, they were one of the four best teams in New York. It ended at the states, but how many can say they made it that far?”