6th inning rally keys Bryant win

The game-deciding at-bats for Bryant didn’t include any blasts or whistling line drives in the gap. Instead, they were a three-hopper to shortstop; a Texas leaguer just over the outstretched arms of Bayside shortstop Nicole Marra; and a weak roller to the right of the pitching mound.
Combined, they weren’t too impressive, but they were just what Bryant Manager Walter Hausdorf was looking for. “Just hit the ball and force them to make plays,” Hausdorf told his team every time they returned to the dugout prior to their times at the plate.
When the Owls loaded the bases on a pair of walks and pitcher Melissa Mejia’s shallow single to left, his team simply followed that mantra to the tune of a four-run sixth inning in their impressive come-from-behind 4-1 victory at Bayside last Wednesday. The triumph pushed Bryant into a first-place tie with the Commodores atop Queens-A with just three games remaining.
“We came here and said we were going to win and we did,” said starting pitcher Melissa Mejia after she earned her eighth win of the year with a complete-game six-hitter.
When Bayside catcher, Terry Yip, couldn’t handle Marra’s throw on center fielder Ashley Allen’s grounder, the Owls were on the board, tied at one. A passed ball gave the Owls their first lead and Pascarelli dumped in her second hit to shallow left. Haniah Romzy followed by fighting off an inside fastball to the right of the mound that plated Allen with the fourth run. “When we have a chance,” said second baseman Victoria Pascarelli, “we usually get the runs in.”
But the Owls (9-2, Queens A) weren’t facing any ordinary pitcher. Kasey Parente, the division’s leader in victories and E.R.A. who had beaten them, 5-1, April 11th, had allowed just two hits - a double to Mejia in the second and Pascarelli’s infield single in the third - through five dominant innings.
“We were able to get some runners on and we created some scoring chances,” Hausdorf said. “In a close game that’s what you have to do. You have to be aggressive and try to create opportunities.”
It certainly helped that Mejia was on top of her game. After allowing an unearned run in the first -Allen misplayed Parente’s single into an inside-the-park homer - she allowed just four hits - all singles - the rest of the way and never walked a batter which, ultimately, undid Parente who walked four and hit one.
“We’ve got to make sure she throws a lot more strikes and challenges batters,” Bayside Manager Stephen Piorkowski said. “She has it in her to do it, but she has to regain her focus in practice.”