Fontbonne Hall is not letting a forgettable performance wrest its focus from the greater goal.
The Bonnies had an opportunity to storm into a regular-season finale and claim the Brooklyn-Queens regular-season title — instead two Fontbonne pitchers combined to give up 15 hits, and the team suffered a 15–11 loss to St. Francis Prep at Dyker Beach Park on April 10. A six-run top of the sixth broke open the game at 15–7. The loss leaves first place still in Fontbonne’s grasp, but the team will need help from St. Francis.
“It’s not over,” Fontbonne coach Frank Marinello said. “If they lose to Molloy and we beat Mary Louis we are in first place.”
His club tried to slug its way to another win after falling behind 4–0 by the bottom of the third — its largest deficit of the season. Fontbonne got right back into the game at 4–3 that frame — thanks to a three-run homer from Samantha Marletta — but St. Francis Prep scored twice in the fourth against reliever Gabby Casagrande to grab a 6–4 advantage.
Fontbonne responded again. Abigail Fogliano and Natalie LaCognata both drove in runs during a three-run fourth that put their team ahead 7–6. LaCognata went 3-for-4 with a triple. Emily Monti collected two hits and scored twice. And Elizabeth Tesoriero added three hits, batted in a run, and scored two herself. Marinello was happy with the way his team hit Terriers ace Monica Zhivanaj.
“We did a lot of good things today,” Marinello said.
But the good feelings didn’t last long.
Casagrande, who relieved Bianca Marletta, appeared ready to wiggle out of trouble in the fifth, but two walks, a wild pitch, and a pass ball opened the door for the Terriers (4–4) to score three times in the frame and take a 9–7 lead it would not relinquish. The squad added six more runs in the sixth, including two runs that Sarah Williams batted in (she had four total).
“That inning with all the errors was really hard to bounce back from,” Samantha Marletta said. “Though we have done it in the past, it is hard in the present to comeback.”
The Bonnies (4–4) did attempt a comeback. Bianca Marletta smashed a three-run blast in the sixth, and Tesoriero plated a run in the seventh, but that was all the Bonnies could muster. The game was just a reminder of how tight the division is right now.
“It’s an even division,” Marinello said. “On any given day, anybody can beat anybody. That’s how it’s been all year, so why would it change?”
