By Joseph Staszewski
Consecutive hits haven’t come with regularity for Archbishop Molloy this season — that is, until the fourth inning of a pivotal game against rival St. Francis Prep.
In that six-run frame, the Stanners collected seven hits, including four straight with two outs. It was enough to power them to their fourth-straight league victory with a score of 7-2 against the host Terriers in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens girls’ softball Monday.
Molloy, which moves into sole possession of second place, found its timing against SFP starter Alyssa Siess and began hitting her pitches hard.
“Back-to-back singles we haven’t seen, not like five in a row, six in a row,” Stanners Coach Maureen Rosenbaum said. “Not like that. We’ve had a couple of back to backs. We haven’t had a long rally. It was great. It was all line drives.”
Siess, who had a no-hitter through 6 1/3 innings against Fontbonne Hall April 23, appeared as if she might be able to get out of the inning unscathed when she got Holy Cross-bound first basemen Taylor Moss to pop out for the second out with two runners on.
Stanners ace Alex Yule then delivered a two-RBI single to left center that scored Kristen Maurer and Camille Sears to make it 2-0. Molloy (5-3) got another run when St. Francis Prep tried to catch Jamie Durso, who had singled, stealing second.
A long two-run triple by Ally Klesin brought home Durso and Grace Crockett and broke the inning open by giving Molloy a 6-0 lead. The hit put Klesin at ease after not making contact with the ball recently to her liking.
“When I had that shot, it felt really good,” she said. “It was nice. It was a relief. It was like, ‘OK, I got it back.’”
The Terriers (5-5), which had eight hits in the game, scratched a run across the bottom of the frame, thanks to an RBI single from Anna Prisco. They then loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fifth only to see Briana Emanuele line a ball hard to Yule that turned into a double play. Kelly Licul popped out to end the threat.
“I was a little scared, but probably the happiest line drive I ever had,” said Yule, who struck out four.
Molloy tacked on a run with an RBI single from Gabby Bruno in the top of the sixth and St. Francis Prep added a sack fly by Jessica Menna in the bottom of the frame. Terriers Coach Anne Maria Rich, who watched her team top Fontbonne earlier in the week, saw the squad miss its chance to get back in the game in the fifth with Emanuele’s hard-hit ball.
“She’s been struggling at the plate, and low and behold she gets a hold of a good one and there it goes,” Rich said.
Molloy, on the other hand, is getting an opportunity to move into a tie with Fontbonne at first place when they travel to Bay Ridge Friday. The Stanners appear to be playing their best right now.
“We always like to peak late, but a little luck helps out, too,” Rosenbaum said. “The schedule brings us a lot of late games this year. Hopefully, we are peaking at the right time.”
