Mary Louis didn’t hide the emotional drain its loss to St. Francis Prep inflicted, but it wasn’t as discouraged as one would think.
“It hurts,” third baseman Shannon Minihane said. “We played six strong innings and if we continue to play like that the rest of the week and next week into Molloy, I don’t think we will have a problem.”
But for one day the Hilltoppers had to watch the visiting Terriers rally from a three-run deficit in the fourth and score twice in the top of the seventh to hand them a 6-5 loss Tuesday in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens softball at Cunningham Park. It was TMLA’s third tight loss to the division’s elite team, falling to two-time defending champion Molloy 3-0 earlier this season and 4-1 to St. Francis Prep on Monday.
“We played better than we did yesterday and we had so much more life than we did yesterday,” TMLA coach Ginny Peiser sad. “We played Mary Louis softball for awhile.”
The biggest frustration was the lack of a game-breaking hit. Freshman Nicole Hubert doubled to drive in two during a three-run third inning as Minihane singled home the other run. But TMLA (6-3), ranked No. 8 in the city by The Post, got just one run in the fourth with the bases loaded and no one out to extend the lead to 5-2. The Hilltoppers loaded the bases again in the seventh thanks to a smash by Hubert to left, a single by Taylor Schiavi and a walk to Julie Canova, but could not score against Terriers ace Katie Derby.
“We are always one hit away,” Peiser said. “If we had one more hit on all our losses we would undefeated right now.”
SFP shortstop Danielle Cervasio tracked down a Jen Falcone ground ball and threw home and Tara O’Rourke caught a scream line drive by the second baseman to center, saving an extra base hit, to lead off the sixth.
Viki Slavik doubled in Cervasio to tie the score in the seventh for No. 4 SFP (7-1), which picked up two runs with two outs in the fifth. A throwing error by Falcone brought home the winning run. It wasted a strong outing by senior windmiller Becky Warne, who was struggling of late. She allowed just four hits, walked five and was hurt by a few key miscues in the field. So the Hilltoppers will need to wait to pick up their signature win.
“We are preparing to break through,” Minihane said. “It’s more mentally. Physically I think we got it. It’s more of a mental issue. We start breaking down. I think that’s a thing of the past after today because this one hurts.”
