By Erin Bruehl
But their lack of big game experience didn't hurt them last Thursday against Curtis as the Owls rallied for five runs in the bottom of the seventh to win, 8-7, in a first-round PSAL 'A' playoff game at Bryant High School.Down 7-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh, Pena – in her first game back from the injury- led off with a single that bounced off the left field fence. After a flyout, Krystle Hagenlocher and Victoria Pascarelli followed with a single and walk, respectively, to load the bases.Sophomore centerfielder Ashley Allen then drilled an RBI-single to left, scoring the first run of the rally.The eighth-seeded Owls followed with an Ana Quidilla RBI-single and a run-scoring walk. Next, Stevens reached on a dropped ball at first that scored another before Chao walked with the bases loaded to bring home the winning run. She finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and three strikeouts on the mound.Bryant (9-6 PSAL) trailed No. 9 Curtis (9-9 PSAL) from the second inning and left the bases loaded in the third without scoring but Bryant coach Wally Hausdorf said his team – the closest group he's had in 25 years – never got down.”We just started finding holes,” he said of their rally. “We hung tough and didn't give up. They smacked the ball when they had to and Ashley's base hit was the key hit in the rally.”Allen is still learning but is already an outstanding defensive outfielder with great speed. She said leading up to her hit, she believed the Owls could rebound.”Right there I said to myself 'come on, you got it',” she said of her at-bat. “We all thought, 'we can do this'. The adrenaline was crazy and I was so happy.”Curtis took a 4-1 lead in the second after stringing together a walk, sacrifice bunt and three hits. The Warriors then capitalized on two errors in the fourth to make it 6-1 and starter Caitlin Shulman held the Owls scoreless from the first until Bryant added two in the fifth. Curtis scored another run in the sixth before Bryant exploded offensively in the seventh.Next for Bryant is defending city champion Tottenville in the double-elimination quarterfinals.Reach contributing writer Erin Bruehl by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
