LAWRENCE – Aesthetically speaking, there have been prettier seventh-inning, game-winning rallies.
At this time of year, aesthetics are for losers.
No. 2 Central Catholic pieced together a walk, bloop single, a second walk, a two-out infield dribbler and a dropped pop-up to rally from 3-2 down and walk off with a dramatic 4-3 win over a stunned Saint Paul Diocesan in the Division 1 state quarterfinals here on Saturday.
“I will definitely take it. That’s a good pitcher (Knight Bella Mara) in that circle, and she got better as the game went on. All we talked about is just fighting, fighting till the end,” said Central coach Stacy Ciccolo.
The victory pushes the Raiders, now 19-2, into their second straight final four this week.
“We all just really wanted it. I had my last at-bat in the seventh inning, and I just was saying, ‘this won’t be my last at-bat.’ I wanted to get to the next game. I wanted to keep going,” said winning pitcher Julia Malowitz.
“(It was) our toughness and our grit. We all had to string together and be loud and be comforting each other.”
Central plated two in the first and two in the seventh. That was literally it against Mara, who loomed large and in charge.
Malowitz matched her pitch for pitch for sure, but paid dearly for a strong breeze blowing straight out, costing her two homers and the Raiders the lead.
Mara worked out of a first-and-second, no-out jam in the sixth unscathed, but the seventh belonged to Central and its resilience.
Freshman pinch-hitter Chloe Salerno opened the inning by drawing a walk, and following the first out the seventh, moved up to second on a Malowitz looping single to center. Olivia Boucher walked to load the bases, but a Caitlin Milner fly to right wasn’t deep enough to score the equalizer, leaving Olivia Moeckel to step in with the sacks full and two away.
An inning earlier, Moeckel had one-hopped the fence with an absolute missile.
This time around, she dribbled a ball that might not have traveled 50 feet – with stunning effectiveness. She legged out the infield hit, beating the throw from third easily to plate Salerno for the tie.
Katie Fox then hit a lazy pop to short that was misplayed, ending it and sending the Raiders back to the state semis.
“I really liked the fight we had in the sixth, although we didn’t get anything out of it. But I felt good about going into the seventh,” said Ciccolo. “We did some really good things. We pinch-hit a freshman, and she worked a walk, which was amazing. We had our right-fielder (Moeckel) crushing balls all day, and we were just able to put on just enough pressure to tie the game. I thought we were going to extra innings, but it didn’t.”
Central’s only other “uprising” came in the bottom of the first.
Malowitz singled, Boucher walked and Milner was drilled by an inside fastball to load them. Moeckel’s grounder to third was thrown away, and Fox followed with an RBI fielder’s choice to score Boucher. That was all until the seventh.