It just wasn’t their day.
There were no excuses, and no focus on what could-have-happened or might-have-been.
The Fontbonne Hall softball team suffered an 11–1 loss to Archbishop Molloy in five innings April 28, a disappointing end to a day marred by everything from traffic jams to broken-down buses — and a distinct lack of hitting.
“It happens, right? The bus broke down and it just happens,” Bonnies coach Frank Marinello said. “I don’t want to let little things get in the way, so I’m not going to blame that with what happened today. What happened today was a [Molloy] kid threw the ball very well and you’ve got to tip your cap.”
Fontbonne actually got out to a quick start, despite a nearly hour-long delay, jumping out to a one-run lead on the strength of a run-scoring triple by Abigail Fogliano. That, however, was as much as the Bonnies would get.
The Stanners answered in the bottom of the frame, putting up three runs of their own, and, from there on out, it was all Molloy pitcher Kelsey Carr. The Stanners freshman struck out 12 and held Fontbonne to just one hit in the final four innings.
“We have a long way to get to where we want to be and we have two young kids who can throw,” Marinello said. “We have one of the best catchers in the city, so we’re strong up the middle, but we’ve got to get the ball in play.”
Bonnies pitcher Anna Acevedo did her best to kept Fontbonne in the game, but was never able to get her timing quite perfect, and Molloy took advantage.
The Stanners batted around twice, and knocked out 14 hits, including Carr’s first-pitch, solo home run to open the fifth inning.
But Marinello refused to make excuses, saying that the Stanners were simply too much for Fontbonne to handle.
“We’ll be fine,” he said. “The object is you have to have a better idea when you get in the game. That’s all there really is to it.”
It wasn’t an easy day for the Bonnies, and as they walked off the field, it was clear that the squad was having difficulty finding a silver lining in the loss.
Fontbonne isn’t ready to give up its goal of winning a championship, and is anxious to get better down the stretch. They’d just like to avoid any more disabled buses.
“We’re a good team,” Marinello said. “The goal is: If you want to put yourself to be in a position to be a championship team, you’ve just got to go through the mud.”
