Clutch hitting and some slick fielding provided Poly Prep with an important win over its Ivy League rival.
The Blue Devils softball team cashed in on its scoring opportunity in the fourth inning and ace Ava O’Mara pitched out of jams in the final two frames to secure a 3–1 home victory over Fieldston, the two-time defending private school state softball champion, last Saturday. The game was originally scheduled for the Bronx, but was moved when Fieldston’s field was unplayable.
Poly (5–0, 3–0) scored all three of its runs in the top of the fourth. Center fielder Morgan O’Mara led off with a double that was followed up by a booming triple off the center field fence by third baseman Honor Sankey to give Poly a 1–0 advantage. Catcher Jane Malafronte came to bat next and hit a grounder to first, scoring Sankey.
Shortstop Carly Corr singled to right field and eventually scored on some sloppy Fieldston defense. Poly’s Nova Stoller hit a ground ball to Fieldston second baseman Jane Leff. Leff’s throw pulled first baseman Kate Koeppel off the bag, but the ball popped out of her glove and scurried into right field. Right fielder Rose Montera’s throw to third to try and get Corr out was offline and allowed Corr to score to make it 3–0.
“We’ve worked really hard on our hitting,” Poly prep coach Mildred Piscopo said. “We’re a similar team to last year. We’re a young team. But these kids are just getting more confidence and we’ve hit well of late.”
Poly ace O’Mara struck out eight, but it wasn’t easy.
She ran into trouble in the sixth when Fieldston (6–1, 2–1) loaded the bases with one out. O’Mara got out of the inning when a runner trying score on a wild pitch was tagged out at home, and then Sarah Healy made an amazing defensive play at second base. A grounder got past Stoller at first, but Healy was backing up the play and beat the runner to the bag to end the inning. O’Mara knew her team couldn’t make any mistakes against a good team like Fieldston.
“I know Fieldston is a very good-hitting team,” O’Mara said. “That’s what they’re known for. I knew I couldn’t throw anything over the plate because they would take advantage of it. I really had to hit my corners and stay ahead in the count. When I got behind, that’s when they got a hit off me.”
The Eagles loaded the bases again in the seventh. This time, O’Mara allowed a run, but her stellar defense got her out of another jam. A blooper was hit over second base with two outs in the inning, and as the runner on third was charging home Corr threw to the plate to get the runner out and end the game.
Fieldston expects other teams to be at their best again it.
“We know we have a big target on our backs,” Fieldston coach Stefanie Godziewski said. “We come into every game knowing that. We hope that we can come into every game motivated to play.”
