South Jersey softball notebook

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St. Joseph 3, Buena 2 in the opening Cape-Atlantic League softball game for both teams.

Little Buena can be a dangerous team, as evidenced by its 4-3 win over big Washington Township on Saturday. But St. Joseph has Nicole Pagano, arguably the most dominant pitcher in South Jersey.

So what happened?

Candi Dean, the Wildcats' coach, said lots of people asked that question when they saw the score of the April 1 game.

"Pagano looked good with 12 strikeouts, two hits, no earned runs, her normal stuff," Dean said.

The key was unearned runs. Buena had two of them.

The Wildcats, ranked No. 1 in South Jersey by The Inquirer, were able to answer Buena's first-inning run with one of their own in the third. They did the same in the bottom of the fourth.

In the seventh, senior first baseman Gianna Cavallo doubled in junior Danielle Fratanduno with the winning run.

"The two errors were the difference," Dean said, referring to a pair of miscues that led to two Buena runs. "We're fixing it. Hopefully Arianna gets back this week."

Arianna Donzuso, the regular third baseman, has been out with a dislocated shoulder she suffered two weeks ago while diving for a ball in practice.

Miss Perfect. Gloucester senior Taylor Chain hurled the first perfect game of her high school career on Saturday with a 12-0 win over Woodstown in a Tri-County Conference interdivisional game.

Chain also blanked conference rival Schalick, 13-0, in the season opener for both teams on April 1.

"My best pitch is my curve ball," said Chain, who has been starting for the Lions since her sophomore year. "I feel like if anything happens, I have the field to back me up."

Making her feat more remarkable is that she has been throwing to a different catcher, sophomore Teresa Anderson. Senior Tabby Dick, with whom Chain has worked the last two seasons, was moved to second base after the regular player there was in a car accident.

"Anderson is doing good behind the plate, keeping everything in front of her," Chain said.

Gloucester's hitting also was remarkable. The Lions scored 25 runs in two games, but coach Dave Light wasn't surprised. Light said the Lions were continuing what they started last year at the plate.

Fast start. Hammonton started the season with hot hitting and tough pitching to win its first two games, and head coach Stacy Jackson-Jones was elated.

"We had 22 hits in two games," said Jackson-Jones, whose Blue Devils beat Absegami, 11-1, and Millville, 9-0, on Saturday in the Ron Vinick tournament. "I can't ever recall a start like that. We usually start slow."

Junior pitcher Maria Tortorelli allowed only one run in 12 innings of work.

Jackson-Jones had a list of three pitchers to choose from at the start - senior Becca Davis, junior Jackie Scardino, and Tortorelli.

Getting started. Moorestown coach Bill Mulvihill said he had only one position to fill from last year's team: catcher.

A sophomore, Dana Sleeper, caught pitcher Lauren Pfister the first two games and seems to be catching on to the position.

"The most difficult thing was [catching] when a batter is swinging and the ball is coming toward me," said Sleeper, who played third base on the junior varsity team last year. "But I got used to it after a couple days."

Pfister, a senior who has started in the circle since her sophomore season, said Sleeper was doing better than she expected in only a week and a half.

Team Record

Records are through Thursday.

Last week's ranks are in parentheses.

1. Williamstown (2) 3-0

2. Kingsway (3) 3-0

3. Pennsville (5) 2-0

4. Gloucester (6) 4-0

5. Hammonton (10) 4-0

6. St. Joseph (1) 2-1

7. Cherokee (NR) 3-0

8. Sterling (NR) 3-0

9. West Deptford (4) 1-1

10. Absegami (NR) 5-1

Under consideration (listed alphabetically): Bordentown (3-0), Camden Catholic (1-1), Delran (4-0), Gloucester Catholic (3-1), Triton (3-0). - Bill Iezzi
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