By Joseph Staszewski
Victoria Brown was having too much fun.
The lighter side of softball is ingrained in the jovial Archbishop Molloy junior catcher. Having gone by the name of Brownie since the age of 10, Brown has given up on people calling her Victoria both in the halls at school and around the team. It’s even written on her slide for Coach Maureen Rosenbaum’s lineup board, while everyone else has their first and last names.
Brown admitted she sometimes got too caught up in her and her teammates’ joking nature and needed to focus more on performing her duties on the field. “I’ve always been a fool-around kind of kid,” she said. “I needed to crack down and learn how to focus. Learning that was not easy.”
It meant taking warmups more seriously, being more selective about hitting at the plate and taking more of a hands-on role dealing with the Stanners’ pitching staff.
“She always brings the fun,” Rosenbaum said. “It’s been a challenge to teach her the fight.”
Brown accepted that challenge and it has translated into a breakout season both at the plate and behind it. Brown is batting .468 with three triples, a home run, 12 RBI and just two strikeouts. Opposing teams aren’t testing her arm on the base paths and she has two of the biggest hits of the Stanners’ season. Brown smashed a three-run triple in an early 4-1 win over Fontbonne Hall and drilled a three-run homer that was enough to beat Bronx power Preston.
“I feel like I can trust my bat now,” Brown said. “I used to not have that confidence at all.”
Her hot bat makes a middle of the order that features Alexandra Yule and Camille Sears that much more dangerous. Molloy, the defending regular-season champion, is in second place behind St. Francis Prep in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens.
“You have faith she is going to bring a run in,” senior pitcher Amani Zeni said.
The biggest sign in Brown’s mind that she has arrived: She is now getting to call some of the pitches behind plate. That means she is earning Rosenbaum’s trust after all the yelling and pushing to get her to bring greater focus to the game. The coaching staff had called all the pitches before that.
“Having her trust me like that is something I never thought was ever going to happen,” Brown said. “Now that it is, it’s a great feeling.”
Brown’s upbeat personality has also been an asset. She can naturally break the tension, and is known for her jokes, puns and picking up her teammates when they are down.
“She brings joy to the team,” Zeni said.
But Brown is now providing much more, having discovered how to turn off the fun and bring the fight when needed.
“She’s learned the balance of the two,” Rosenbaum said. “I think that’s why she is performing the way she is.”
