Ryan's Dadalski dominates on the mound and at the plate

Kerri Dadalski thought she was going to have to wait her turn.

With Hofstra recruit Nikki Michalowski a year older and playing the same position, she believed she'd have to wait until her senior season to make an impact for the Archbishop Ryan softball team.

So when Dadalski made varsity as a freshman, she was honored but figured she wasn't going to see much time on the playing field.

Then the Ragdolls' coach, Andy Hafele, did something that surprised Dadalski, who is now a senior - he threw her into a game.

She's been batting cleanup almost every game since.

"I get a front-row seat every game to watch her pitch and bat," current Ryan coach John Kidwell said. "She goes out there and dominates on the mound, and then when she comes in to bat she is knocking in runs - hitting doubles, triples."

The Central Connecticut recruit has been dynamite for Archbishop Ryan (7-0). Through Saturday, Dadalski was hitting close to .600 with five extra-base hits and 13 RBIs. On the mound, she's been tough too, striking out 66 batters in 40 innings. She's recorded five shutouts and posted an earned-run average of less than .50.

"It's amazing," Kidwell said. "She's thrown no hitters, 13-strikeout games. With Kerri we don't have to score seven or eight runs a game, we only need two or three."

Not many expected Ryan to go undefeated through Catholic League play, win the league title, or defeat North Penn in the state playoffs last year. But they did just that - in resounding fashion, too.

Often that resounding part was thanks to Dadalski, who consistently came up with the big hits in big games and was handed the ball when it mattered most.

"You get that taste and you crave it, you want it even more," Dadalski said. "You know how celebrating after the first one was. When you know you had it you want it again and again."

Dadalski thinks about the fairy tale ending of last season frequently.

But she's most often reminded of the Ragdolls' accomplishments when she puts on her Catholic League championship sweatshirt, a white one with red letters that she jokingly dubbed, "a fashion statement."

It says Ryan softball on the front with a Ragdoll pictured. Undefeated champs is written on the sleeve.

She "loves" the item of clothing and wears it "all the time."

The memento serves a purpose, Dadalski says. It shows that what Ryan did last year they can achieve again.

Until the opportunity arises, Ryan's ace will continue her role as an impact player. Not bad for somebody who was just waiting her turn.