It’s not always easy to do the little things, but luckily, Janelle Boyd and the Archbishop Molloy Stanners do softball nuance. They know how to field, they know how to move baserunners, and they know how to win low-scoring games. Here lies the key to Friday’s 3-0 win over Mary Louis.
Molloy topped one of its two biggest division rivals on April 30 behind the incomparable pitching of senior Janelle Boyd, whose victory helps the Stanners enter the week at 8-0 while the Hilltoppers meander in at 3-5. The teams sandwich second-place St. Francis Prep in the standings; the Terriers, 5-2 as of Monday, remain the Stanners’ most proximate challenge.
Not that the Hilltoppers were any slouch on Friday, April 30. Molloy’s first two runs, scored in the third and fourth innings, were bunted home. In the third, Melissa Kump bunted in Jeanna Dalvano from third base; in the fourth, Anniela Vaccaro moved from first to third on a bunt by Maria Palmeri, then scored on the throw to first one bunt and one batter later. Only in the sixth inning did Molloy score one the old-fashioned way, when a Palmeri single up the middle plated Vaccaro from second base.
Of course, the one-run-at-a-time strategy would be useless if the Stanners weren’t so confident in their pitcher.
“Usually, if she gets three or four runs, that’s enough,” head coach Maureen Rosenbaum said of Boyd. “She’s been pretty consistent.”
Boyd’s hard, low fastball was complemented by a tricky changeup and Greg Maddux-like reaction time from the mound. She snared more than a few hard grounders, which tend to come in droves to pitchers who specialize in low-strike-zone speed. When she can’t field them herself, she values the strength of the defense behind her and stays unafraid of throwing strikes.
“I just try to keep hitters off-balance,” Boyd said. “I feel really confident, because I know if it’s a ground ball or a pop-up, they’ll get the out.”
On Friday, she threw 84 pitches, tallying five strikeouts and four hits.
With Mary Louis now dealt with until the playoffs, St. Francis Prep lingers as the Stanners’ most obvious title threat. Rosenbaum, master of the engineered, low-scoring win, pledges to keep her players on their toes as the regular season winds down and the playoffs approach.
“One game could make or break your whole season,” she said.
As long as Archbishop Molloy keeps up the bunting, baserunning, and fielding, expect most of the breaks to go the Stanners’ way.
