Herkimer softball sweeps Jamestown-Cattaraugus

Olean, NY – The Generals are on their swing through the Southern Tier and western New York this weekend. They faced the Jaguars of Jamestown-Cattaraugus on Saturday afternoon and won both games.

Tomorrow they will travel to Niagara CC for another mid-day twin bill. The regular season will end this coming week with a critical doubleheader with Monroe CC in Herkimer on Tuesday and a pair of Wednesday contests at Fulton-Montgomery.

Playing conditions in Olean were good. It was sunny and 63 degrees at game time.

Game One.

Herkimer got another strong start from Pitcher Toni Secreti in Game One. Secreti received plenty of support as the Generals' offense exploded for 23 runs on 21 hits and won 23-0.

Starter Secreti went five innings, giving up just three hits in the shutout victory. Herkimer hit four home runs in the game, led by Stephanie Siriano. Siriano went three-for-four with a homer and three RBIs. Jessica Patterelli went three-for-five. Patterelli hit a home run and drove in five runs. Tina Karaqi went three-for-four with a round-tripper. Delaney Buckley hit the other homer as she finished the game two-for-four with three RBIs. Sammy Smaldone (3-6, 2B), Alyssa Balfe (2-4, 2B, 3 RBIs) and Rebekah Kitchen (2-4, 2B, 2 RBIs) all had multi-hit games. Shannon Lombardi and Courtney Gumprecht each had an RBI-double while Ashley Sterritt added a single.

Game Two

The Generals received another strong pitching performance from Jess Patterelli as she went three hitless innings. Patterelli was relieved by Alexa DiSpirito who went the last two giving up just one hit.

Once again, the Herkimer bats provided plenty of support as they put up 21 runs on 19 hits, five coming off the bat of Siriano. In Game Two, she went five-for-five with a double, homer, and seven RBIs. Sammy Smaldone (3-4), Tina Karaqi (3-3, 2B) and Ashley Sterritt (3-4, 3 RBIs) also had big games at the plate. Alyssa Balfe had another two-hit game (2-3, 2B, RBI), and Fallon Spriggs (1-2, 2 RBI) also had a big hit. Kathryn Dolly had a huge RBI-double, and Shannon Lombardi also had an RBI-single.

Super Seniors

Saturday was yet another outstanding day for the squad's two seniors, Jess Patterelli and Steph Siriano. All season, Patterelli has been very strong at second base and in the circle, and Siriano has excelled in center field. Both have been sterling in the batter's box.

Photo: Jess Patterelli (left) and Steph Siriano

Both players were so good last year that they joined teammate Abby Black on the National Junior College Athletic Association's All-American First Team. That is, they were considered to be among the 10 best players in all of Division III. The members of the First and Second Teams came from Minnesota, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York.

Siriano and Patterelli are clutch performers and big producers at the plate. The Region 3 stats published at the beginning of the current week showed left-handed leadoff hitter Patterelli batting .586 and Siriano at .508. They both have great averages, and both can hit the long ball. Patterelli has hit five round-trippers and Siriano has cleared the fence 11 times this season.

Patterelli is skilled second baseman who is also pitching very well this year. Last year, as a freshman, she did not see much time in the circle with a solid senior staff of Krista Oakes, Mollee Putnam, and Cheyenne Bumpus already in place. This year Patterelli is a polished, effective member of the pitching staff and has a perfect record of 6-0.

Siriano is once again producing hits when they are needed. She is also patrolling center field very well. She worked with a former professional women's softball player this past summer to improve her fielding, and all that work has paid off. She's now getting very good jumps on hits to center, she's made some terrific catches, and her throws are typically firm and on the money.

Nick Scribe, website writer

Game One
Herkimer 4-1-8 6-4 23-21-1
J-Catt 0-0-0 0-0 0-3-3
We- Secreti (10-1), LP- Ginter
2B- Herk- Smaldone, Lombardi, Balfe, Kitchen, Gumprecht
HR- Herk - Siriano, Patterelli, Buckley, Karaqi
Herkimer- 28-2, 24-1, 9-1

Game Two
Herkimer 5-1-0 10-5 21-19-1
J-Catt 0-0-0 0-0 0-1-4
WP- Patterelli (6-0), LP- McCutchin
2B- Siriano, Karaqi, Dolly, Balfe
HR- Siriano
Herkimer- 29-2, 25-1, 9-1