St. Edmund Prep’s Meagan Cranston smacked an Ashley Schirripa pitch into the gap in right-center field and was off, but so was Fontbonne right fielder Jennifer Kearns.
“I thought it was going to fall in for a base hit or even maybe a double, but she got it,” Cranston said. “I don’t know how, but she did.”
Kearns made the diving catch, with a bit of a roll at the end, to take both a hit away from the speedy Cranston, who was leading off the fifth inning, and more than likely the tying run from the Eagles. St. Edmund, which went on to lose 5-3, would score twice in the inning on a two-out, two-run single from Bianca Inserillo to draw within 4-3 in a CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens softball tiebreaker at Brownsville Playground Thursday in Brooklyn. The Bonnies (10-3) clinched second place in the Brooklyn division with the win.
“That was a huge play,” St. Edmund’s coach Rowena Motylewski said. “They were letting us know that they’re not going to give us any chances. It made our job a little bit more difficult.”
So did Fontbonne ace Ashley Schirripa, who allowed just two hits, struck out 13, and walked five. After a rocky start, walking two and giving up a run in the first, the senior dominated the Eagles until the later innings when they started putting better swings on the ball.
“We had seen her once before,” Motylewski said. “It shouldn’t have been too much of an adjustment, but a couple of our better hitters had really, really poor days.”
Added Cranston: “By the end of the game [we timed her], but that was too late. After the second at bat everyone knew what was coming in.”
Casey Sclafani, who started in place of ace Emma Farrington, who was sick, was 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and a run scored. Cassandra Molinari walked twice and scored a run and Christina Quintana was 1-for-2 with a double. Sclafani allowed eight hits, struck out six and walked three.
But, four St. Edmund (9-4) errors, including a ground ball thrown into centerfield by Inserillo, the shortstop, that allowed a Fontbonne insurance run to score in the top of the seventh, gave their opponent too many chances.
Still, the game continued to show how far the program has come, especially after beating Fontbonne, 15-9, Wednesday to force the tiebreaker. St. Edmund travels to St. Francis Prep Friday for its quarterfinal matchup.
“They’ve built their program up to be much stronger,” Schirripa said. “They are on the road to be just as good as anyone else.”
