By Joseph Staszewski
St. Francis Prep Coach Ann Marie Rich wasn’t exactly sure how to explain her team’s play, only to say it was unexpected and unlike them.
“It was an unusual St. Francis Prep game today, very unusual considering we have been hitting so hard so much lately,” she said Friday.
Her team had to wait until the sixth inning to get its first two and only hits against Fontbonne ace Nicolette Trapani in an eventual 7-0 home loss in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens softball at Cunningham Park. The Terriers had just six base runners and struck 11 times.
“She pitched great,” Rich said of Trapani. “How many times can you stand there and watch the third strike come in?”
Danielle Cervasio, who also walked twice, laid down a perfectly placed bunt with one out in the sixth for the game’s first hit. Tara O’Rourke had the second. Cervasio thought her team wasn’t aggressive enough at the plate, waiting for the next person to get things going.
Unlike the team’s first meeting, a 7-5 SFP win, the Terriers (5-1) didn’t jump ahead. Instead it was Fontbonne (6-1) who took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning, highlighted by a two-run double by Trapani. They added a run in the third, two more in the fourth and one in the seventh.
“We thought we were going to win,” Cervasio said. “Everyone was getting too cocky. Nobody wants to do anything. The energy was just down.”
Starter Theresa Armano, a junior, lasted just 3 2/3 innings and allowed six runs, five earned. The control pitcher didn’t have that little extra speed on her ball, according to Rich, and she watched Bonnies hitters turn on some tough pitches. Reliever Julianne Menna allowed a run on four hits the rest of the way.
“She didn’t have her pop today,” Rich said.
Cervasio believes this could serve as a good lesson to a team with just two seniors and stars three freshman —you can’t take anything for granted.
“I think this could be an eye-opener for some of the girls,” Cervasio said. “You have to bring your everything every game. Every team in this league is a very good team.”
