There’s nothing Rachel Mazza hates more than sloppy defense. It’s the bane of the Preston coach’s existence. Normally her Panthers are smooth in the field, but this season has been different.
Mazza doesn’t plan on taking it anymore. She has laid down the gauntlet in practice since an error-filled win against Our Lady of Victory on Wednesday. Anyone who boots a ball has to run five laps and if they couldn’t beat rival Cardinal Spellman on Monday they were staying after for practice – no matter how dark it was.
“You want to make errors?” Mazza said. “You’re making my job tougher? I’m going to make your job tougher.”
Evidently, the Panthers weren’t too keen on spending any more hours at Bicentennial Veterans Memorial Park. Preston run-ruled Spellman, 14-4 in five innings, in CHSAA Bronx/Westchester softball for one of its most dominant wins of the season. Mazza’s team still made four errors, but its hot bats made up for it.
“When we’re hitting then we can afford a couple,” she said. “When we’re not hitting, that’s what kills us every single time.”
Everyone in the lineup scored at least one run and Preston (6-3) also benefited from seven errors by Spellman (6-3). Shortstop Jessica Signore went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored, Frankie Primiani was 1-for-4 with a triple, four RBIs and a run scored and Kitty Lagqui was 1-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored for the Panthers.
“We struggled the last couple games, but we knew we couldn’t lose another one,” Signore said. “We came back and we fought. We hit, we played ‘D’ and we tried not to make any errors.”
Mazza said that Victory game could end up being the turning point of Preston’s season. The Panthers were down eight runs in the fifth and on the verge of getting run-ruled, but they dug deep and hammered out a 10-run sixth, eventually winning 12-11 against the first-place Jaguars.
The demanding coach was still not satisfied, though, because Preston put itself in the position of having to rally because of its shoddy defense.
“Though we won that game, the errors were monumental,” Mazza said. “Every game that we lost: gift wrapped. Literally gift wrapped. It’s like just the ball going under the glove. Just real simple fundamentals. That I just can’t stand.”
Spellman struggled with those Monday. Preston scored six runs in the first two innings aided by four Spellman errors. In the Panthers’ five-run fourth, highlighted by Signore’s two-run double, the Pilots made two errors. Ace Tiffany Rondon gave up seven hits and her team’s hot streak was quickly cooled off.
“I told the girls, ‘Listen, you just gotta put this behind you,’” Spellman coach Dan Crane said. “Don’t even worry about it, because it’s worse losing by one any day than losing by 10.”
Preston pitched Megan Kelly was serviceable, giving up four runs on five hits over five innings. And for the most part the Panthers were adequate in the field with three errorless innings. If it were practice, that’s five less laps Preston defenders would have to run.
“If she’s tougher on us, we’re gonna want to get down and win and make sure we get that championship this year,” Primiani said. “Hopefully we can get that for her and our seniors.”
