Kitty Lagqui knows a thing about waiting your turn. The Preston junior felt she had a chance to make the school’s varsity softball team last season, but with senior catcher Jessica Kerrigan already on the club and some admitted attitude issues, coach Rachel Mazza chose to keep her on the junior varsity.
“Last year I was really wanting to,” Lagqui said. “As a freshman you don’t expect to be on varsity. Sophomore year I thought I was good enough. I still had some stuff to work on. I had a little attitude. But I still got my chance this year.”
And she has taken advantage of it.
She went 2-for-4 with a triple, four RBIs and a run scored in a 7-2 win against host Cardinal Spellman in CHSAA Bronx/Westchester softball Thursday. It was her sixth RBI in the last two games. Lagqui drove in one in the first inning and three more in the second to help the Panthers grab a 6-0 lead.
“I know she is capable of doing it,” Mazza said. “That’s why she is in the four spot.”
There Lagqui has provided ample projection for Preston star third baseman and power hitter Laura Montalto. She made Spellman pay for both an error and its decision to intentionally walk Montalto with two outs to load the bases after an early throwing error allowed the inning to stay alive. Lagqui lined a Tiffany Rondon pitch into right center field and watched it roll all the way to the fence.
“I felt like I had to hit for her since they walked her,” Lagqui said. “I have to avenge her.”
Mazza, who was excited about Lagqui’s prospects in the preseason, admitted that one of the reasons she didn’t move her up last season what that she had been told that her and ace Kristie Davidow, both very emotional players, would be a lot to handle in the same battery as sophomores. A year later they couldn’t have been more wrong.
“She has been nothing but a model player,” Mazza said.
Lagqui, who threw out a runner at both second and third against the Pilots, has also been a strong, calming presence behind the plate and worked to improve her arm with Preston assistant Alex Mazza. She and Davidow have played together since the sixth grade at Villa Maria Academy and have excellent chemistry. They are on the same wavelength when it comes to calling a game and she has a positive effect on Davidow’s psyche in tense moments.
“We both keep each other calm because we are both hot-headed,” Davidow joked.
Lagqui’s transition to the varsity has been seamless. She has taken full advantage of her chance and hopes to lead Preston back to a division title.
“I love that kid as if she was my own daughter,” Rachel Mazza said. “She is a good egg. She is a good kid.”
