Mental mistakes and miscues were at the center of Poly Prep’s first league loss of the season as the Blue Devils fell 8–5 to the visiting Fieldston School on Wednesday. Poly Prep recorded four errors in the Ivy League softball matchup due to nerves, the coach said.
“We didn’t make plays that, as a team, we normally make,” Blue Devils skipper Mildred Piscopo said. “I know the kids were excited and nervous about the game and it just kind of got the best of them. That was the difference.”
The mistakes started early as Poly Prep (12–2, 11–1) gave up two runs in the top of the first inning after a pair of errors allowed the Eagles to get on base.
It only got more challenging from there.
Fieldston (12–2, 10–1) batted through the order and then some in the third, scoring four runs on three hits. It was enough to chase starting pitcher Ava O’Mara out of the circle. The junior ace gave up six runs on five hits, but even then it wasn’t a simple decision for Piscopo to move O’Mara into the field.
“It kind of was unraveling for us,” Piscopo said. “I made the pitching change when I did because they were starting to hit a little bit and try to give them another look.”
Poly Prep was left searching for answers when it came to pitching, but Fieldston ace Temma Levis made good use of her team’s prowess at the plate, giving up just two runs and four hits over the first five innings.
“They’ve seen me now for four years,” Levis said. “It’s my ninth game against them. I felt like I had good movement on the ball, so it was just that and hitting the corners.”
But Poly Prep didn’t lose faith in the box, and the Blue Devils staged a mini-rally in the sixth inning.
O’Mara got things going, driving in a pair of runs with a deep triple to right field. Cody Corr followed up with a double of her own to plate O’Mara, cutting the lead to two.
That was as close as the Blue Devils would get, however, as Levis shut down Poly Prep in the seventh inning. The Fieldston senior finished with seven strikeouts, including two in the final stanza.
“She’s a rock,” Fieldston coach Stefanie Gozdziewski said. “She’s a senior, she’s a leader and she’s got what it takes to just be steady. She’s confident and that reflects on the team. She just calms them down.”
It’s a difficult loss for the Blue Devils as the team wrapped up the regular season, but Poly Prep refuses to focus on the finish.
In fact, Poly Prep is hoping this performance can spark a bit of determination from the squad heading into the postseason. Losing isn’t ever fun, but it can also work as a building block — and that’s exactly what the Blue Devils hope to use it as, the coach said.
“Last year we finished in a tie for first with them, beat them the first game of the season, and then they beat us the second,” Piscopo said. “We want to put this in the back and just move forward.”
