By Joseph Wilkin
Moments prior to the start of Archbishop Molly’s first-round BQCHSAA playoff game against Fontbonne Hall, freshman pitcher Kelsey Carr knew she was about to face quite the challenge.
The Stanners ace stepped into the circle for the season’s warmest game to date, but she hardly broke a sweat. With the sun beaming down, Carr kept her cool, dominating as she led Molloy to a 5-1 victory over the Bonnies last Thursday.
“I just wanted to throw strikes,” Carr said after the win. “I have a whole defense behind me, so I don’t need to do more than that.”
The strikes came early and often from Carr, who struck out six batters in a row in the first three innings of the postseason tilt. As she walked off the field following her first playoff victory with the Stanners, she had 12 strikeouts on the scorecard, matching her total against Fontbonne in early May.
Still, it wasn’t a perfect performance for the freshman standout.
“You’re your own worst enemy,” senior catcher Jessica Hickey shouted as Carr tossed a few warm-up pitchers before the start of the game.
Carr walked four batters on the afternoon, with a walk in the sixth inning that nearly gave Fontbonne a chance at redemption.
Fontbonne senior Samantha Marletta reached on a lead-off single, but a costly error after a fly-out moved her all the way to third and gave the Bonnies a chance to stage a late-game rally.
Carr walked the next batter, but managed to come away unscathed before clocking in strikeout No. 182 of the season to move the Stanners to second round of the BQCHSAA playoffs.
“Today, I was a little off,” Carr said. “I was throwing a lot of balls today, but I got a whole defense behind me, so it’s alright.”
Like any good playoff game, this one couldn’t go without an issue and the squads dealt with a bit of in-game drama midway through the matchup.
During the Stanners’ turn at bat in the fourth inning, Victoria Bruno hustled to first base right after the swing of her bat. Fontbonne pitcher Arianna Heinsch missed the tag on Bruno several feet away from first base and Bruno was called safe, earning an RBI single to give her team a 4-1 lead.
But the Fontbonne coaches thought they found a loophole that would reverse the call. The umpires discussed the disputed call for several moments before agreeing that Bruno was indeed safe.
“We have a lot of controversies, it seems like,” Molloy head coach Maureen Rosenbaum said. “I’d like to think that there are three umpires here and they’d get it right. I didn’t see it happen. All of those plays happened so fast.”
Rules and dramatics aside, the win is a major one in the eyes of Rosenbaum and the Stanners who are hoping to make a run at a division title this spring.
“It feels great that we get to go after another Brooklyn-Queens title,” she said. “We had a good day today. We’ve been playing a little bit better and hitting the ball better. We like to support our pitcher on the mound, so we’re doing good.”
