As a successful comeback kid, it’s rare if senior outfielder Jacklyn Pigatto isn’t smiling for Marist.
A fastball to the left ankle during Monday’s game against Mother McAuley did the trick.
Pigatto stopped, winced and then chucked her bat toward the dugout as she headed toward first base.
“No, I was not smiling,” Pigatto said. “That one hurt.”
The aggressive bat flip?
“Yeah it was, a little bit,” Pigatto said, laughing. “It was more just the pain. I wasn’t mad (at the pitcher). I was like, ‘All right, I’ll just throw this down and walk it off.'”
On a big day of hitting, Pigatto did her fair share as Marist beat neighborhood rival Mother McAuley 17-0 in four innings at St. Xavier.
Savannah Jones, Notre Dame recruit Layla Peters, Michigan commit Lexi Kyros and Saint Louis recruit Ellie Holmstrom all hit home runs for Marist (13-0). Maddie Rogers added three hits.
Aside from her painful at-bat, Pigatto also picked up an RBI single. For the season, she’s flirting with a .400 average while batting ninth for Marist coach Colleen Phelan. She has also been flashing some speed with six stolen bases.
Those steals might be the biggest sign that she’s fully recovered from an ACL injury to her left knee that cost her the entire 2025 season.
“She’s not taking anything for granted,” Phelan said of Pigatto. “She lost her junior year and this is her last go-around because she’s not playing this summer or in college.
“She’s giving it her all and leaving it all out there every play.”
Pignatto played on Marist’s junior varsity as a freshman and was a starting outfielder for the varsity as a sophomore. She hit .299 and was very productive in helping the RedHawks finish second in the state in Class 4A.
In fall 2024, Pigatto was playing for her travel team when injury struck.
“I was diving for a ball in the outfield,” Pigatto said. “Me and my teammate were going to collide head-on. So to avoid it, it was a natural instinct to stop.
“So in mid-dive, I punched my foot in the ground. And my knee twisted out.”
Pigatto had surgery later that fall. During the winter, her physical therapy was going so well that she thought she might have a junior season.
“They actually told me that I would get cleared early,” Pigatto said. “I was expecting to play at the end of the season for Marist, but I got cleared for hitting in June.”
Holmstrom, who is one of Pigatto’s best friends, was at the game when the injury occurred.
She could relate. Holmstrom also was in the process of coming back from an ACL injury, making it back in time to have a great 2025 season. Pigatto was Holmstrom’s biggest fan.
“She was the best teammate she could possibly be,” Holmstrom said. “She always had a smile on her face. She did a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff like walk-up songs, GameChanger, everything you could imagine.
“It’s great to have her back. She gets on base and then we have the top of the order up. She’s speedy fast, almost as fast as Maddie, so she brings a lot to our team.”
In the future, she wants to help others deal with adversity.
“I’m going to the University of Kentucky to major in biology,” Pigatto said. “I want to be a physician’s assistant in sports medicine. During therapy, I sat down with my PA all the time. I told her, ‘I like what you do.’ And I talked to her about it.
“I’m definitely here to have fun this season and enjoy it while I can. Then I want to work with athletes.”
Tony Baranek is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
