BY CHRIS ISEMAN
STAFF WRITER | THE RECORD
SADDLE BROOK – Taryn DiGiacomo could not believe it.
Of all the softball fields at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex, the Saddle Brook pitcher had to return to this one. The same diamond where a year earlier, she strained her right quad when she stepped on first base trying to beat out a ground ball during a spring training game. The injury affected her entire junior season.
The memory was fresh in DiGiacomo’s mind despite being healthy. Coach Darren White told her where they were headed as they walked toward the group of fields.Yet there she was again in March. The first game the Falcons would play was on that same field.
“I was like, ‘You have to be kidding me,’ ” DiGiacomo said. ” ‘It couldn’t be like the third or fourth game.’ ”
She made it through with no problem. It allowed DiGiacomo to move past last season and begin a new one. The senior left-hander has been dominant ever since, motoring the Falcons (19-2).
Seventh-seeded Saddle Brook will face 23rd-seeded River Dell today at 10 a.m. at Saddle Brook in the Bergen County Tournament round of 16.
DiGiacomo, a candidate for The Record Player of the Year, is 18-1 with 190 strikeouts in 115 innings. She has allowed just seven earned runs (0.55 ERA) while walking only 20 batters. DiGiacomo, who bats third, also is hitting .581 with 12 doubles, two triples, 36 RBI and 35 runs scored.
