Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Five-run sixth powers Molloy past rival St. Francis Prep

Maureen Rosenbaum wasn’t taking any chances against rival St. Francis Prep.

Her Archbishop Molloy team had two straight days off for the first time this season after its doubleheader with Kellenberg was cancelled Saturday because of rain. She had her players hitting in the cage before school at 7 a.m. Monday.

“I just wanted to feel confident,” Rosenbaum said.

The extra swings certainly paid dividends. Molloy pounded out 13 hits, all singles outside of a leadoff homer from Theresa Conway. Five of those hits came in a five-run fifth after the Terriers tied the score the inning prior. Molloy went on to win 9-5 in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens ‘AA' softball at Victory Field.

Denis Gostev

Archbishop Molloy's Taylor Moss drove in the winning run against St. Francis Prep.

“I thought we needed it to keep everything going,” right fielder Taylor Moss said.

The best sign for the Stanners, who led 4-0 after three innings, was that the hits came throughout the order. Every player got at least one. In the decisive inning, Moss provided the go-ahead run and seeing a blast to the gap in left center run down by SFP center fielder Tara O’Rourke in the third. This time Moss was able to get the end of the bat on the ball and dunk it into right field to bring home Cassie Hickey to make it 5-4.

“It’s kind of funny how it works out,” Taylor Moss said. “I kind of liked that hit [in the third], felt better off the bat, but didn’t get the job done.”

Dana Moss, who was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored, and Julianna Tracy both provided RBI singles in the frame for Molloy (2-1). Two run scored when Kristen Ponticelli beat second baseman Kayla Ward to first on a roller up the line. Fallon McCarthy was 3-for-4 and Maria Palmeri and Victoria Goldbach each scored twice.

“Everybody contributed,” Dana Moss said.

The Terriers (1-1) finally got on the board with an Eishara Campbell solo homer in the top of the fifth. An inning later, they hit line drives against Goldbach, who lost control of her curveball. She allowed five hits and struck out nine. Jessica Menna had a two-run single and Nicole Lomangino blasted an RBI triple to left to tie the score at 4 for SFP.

It was mistakes in the field, both physical and menta,l that came back to haunt St. Francis Prep. Lomangino allowed four earned runs in 5-2/3 innings of work. Errant throws and often times throwing to the wrong base with runners on cost the Terriers runs and extra outs.

“I am baffled by my team’s performance today defensively,” SFP coach Anne Marie Rich said. “They got themselves back in the game. I’m proud of them for that. I have no clue what some of them were doing. There was no communication.”

It took a big late inning by Molloy for it to pick up its second straight league win after falling to Fontbonne Hall to start the season. The extra swings in the morning certainly kept the Stanners sharp and their momentum going.

“I think it paid off, but I think we still need to hit,” Rosenbaum said. “We need a little work in certain parts of the lineup.”

jstaszewski@nypost.com

Archbishop Molloy, Taylor Moss, Dana Moss, Terriers, Terriers, St. Francis Prep, rival St. Francis, SFP, Theresa Conway, St. Francis, Moss

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