Rough start dooms Montini
Montini could’ve used a Mulligan Tuesday.
Three first-inning errors led to 3 unearned runs, and the Broncos never could get even with Fenwick in a 6-4 loss at the Class 3A Elmwood Park sectional semifinals.
“We came out and we didn’t execute. It happens,” Montini coach Richie Costante said. “I wish we could go back and replay that first inning, but we can’t, so ... Hey, we fought back like we did all year. It’s a great group of girls I got.”
“We got off to a great start,” Fenwick coach Mike Marrese added. “I told the girls, come ready, because we knew this was going to be a tough game.”
Nerves seemed to get the best of the Broncos (27-11) in the first inning, when they committed three infield errors, leading to those three unearned Fenwick runs. Fenwick added another unearned run in the second inning, then scored an earned run in the third. Maggie Horn’s fourth home run of the season, over the left-field fence, gave the Friars (20-15) a 6-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth inning.
After three perfect innings to start the game, Fenwick pitcher Valerie Perrelli (10-6) ran into trouble in the bottom of the fifth when the Fenwick defense buckled behind her.
“She did a great job first time through the order of mixing up pitches and getting ahead,” Costante said of Perrelli. “We were chasing that riseball at the beginning of the game. We made some adjustments, stayed on top of it, we got our timing down like we do every game this season. We’re a good hitting team, and when you add hits up, runs score. It was a nice inning. It was a way to bounce back into the game.”
Sara Ross reached base on an error, went to second on Shaylee Lewis’ single to center and scored on Amy Bukovsky’s single to right field. Montini sophomore pitcher Lauren Trojnar (17-7) — who was “phenomenal” in the circle, Costante said — drove in Lewis with an infield single, and the Broncos loaded the bases on Bell Alexander’s single to left.
Another run scored when Christina Barrett reached base on the Friars’ second error of the inning, and Alyssa Sclafani’s sacrifice fly to center field drove in the Broncos’ final run.
“They’re the No. 1 seed in the sectional, so they’re not going to go down quietly,” Marrese said. “If we come ready to play, we’re a tough team. It’s not a difficult formula.”
Ross reached third in the sixth inning but was stranded. Perrelli gave up a one-out hit to Alexander in the seventh before getting the final two outs.