By Joseph Staszewski
Alexandra Yule was asked to mature quickly on the softball field, and the Archbishop Molloy junior windmiller has done that and more.
She took over as the team’s ace when senior Amanda Zeni went down with tendonitis. Yule and the Stanners haven’t looked back since. They have now won five straight league games and control their own destiny for the division title after a 3-1 victory over Fontbonne Hall at Dyker Beach Park in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens softball last Friday.
“Alex has done a great job stepping up,” Molloy Coach Maureen Rosenbaum said. “She’s just getting strong as each game has gone on.”
Yule limited the Bonnies, the defending diocesan champions, to just one run on three hits and struck eight, including the final two batters of the game. She retired 10 straight batters after allowing the tying run to score in the third inning on an Ariana Dillon single.
“I feel like I’m doing well, the defense behind me doing well,” Yule said. “It’s all coming together at the right time.”
She outdueled Bonnies ace Nicolette Trapani by using her superb change-up and curve ball effectively to keep the Bonnies off balance. Trapani proved to be tough competition. The senior allowed one earned run on three hits while fanning seven.
This was the second time Molloy spoiled an opposing team’s senior day — the Stanners beat St. Francis Prep April 28. Molloy needs to win two of its final three games to secure the regular season crown.
“I think we have just come together as a team,” Yule said. “We have learned how to play together instead of playing individually,” Yule said.
“We get the key hits together,” she added.
Molloy (6-3) took advantage of Trapani’s wildness when Taylor Moss hit a sack fly in the first inning after two hit batters and a Kristen Maurer single loaded the bases. The Bonnies (8-4) tied the score at 1-1 in the third, but it could have been worse for Molloy. Jamie Durso cut down a runner at home trying to score, thanks to a perfect throw from left field and Dillon was picked off at third to end the frame.
The Stanners took the lead for good in the top of the sixth. Mauer led off the inning with a single and Camille Sears drilled a single to left field. The ball scooted under the fielder’s glove and allowed two runs to score to give Molloy a 3-2 lead.
“I wasn’t thinking anything big,” Sears said. “I was just thinking contact with the ball.”
Rosenbaum believes her team is peaking at the right time, but that things could get even better if Zeni can be added back into the mix in time for the post-season. Until then, Yule will try to maintain her dominance.
“She’s keeping the batters on the other team off balance,” Rosenbaum said. “She has a few pitches and she likes to move it around a little bit.”
Molloy has also been moving around as a team — and that direction is up.
