It was another exciting season of local GCHSAA softball action! The following teams won their respective division titles:
Varsity ‘AA’
The St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows, varsity team captured the ‘AA’ diocesan championship with two-game sweep over the Mary Louis Academy, Jamaica Estates.
The game marked the 250th career win for head coach Ann Marie Rich. The team finished the regular season 10-5 en route to the diocesan title.
The L’il Terriers finished as the runner-up in the city championship after a loss to St. Joseph by the Sea and then lost to eventual state champion Kellenberg M.H.S., Uniondale, L.I., in the state semifinals.
The Prep will send three seniors to play softball in college: Jessica Menna, Mount St. Mary’s; Briana Emanuele, St. Thomas Aquinas; and Theresa Armano, St. Joseph’s.
Varsity ‘A’
Fresh off winning last year’s diocesan title and finishing the regular season in first place, the St. Edmund Prep, Sheepshead Bay, varsity softball team again captured the ‘A’ division diocesan title with a victory over St. Saviour, Park Slope.
A win over rival Bishop Kearney, Bensonhurst, put the Eagles right back in the finals. The team will play for the city championship June 2 at Msgr. Scanlon H.S. against archdiocesan representative St. Catharine’s.
Junior Varsity ‘AA’
After a strong 13-2 regular season, the Mary Louis Academy junior varsity softball team experienced plenty of success this postseason in capturing the ‘AA’ division diocesan title and city championship.
The team;s only two regular season losses came against Archbishop Molloy H.S., Briarwood, but the script was different in the diocesan title game, which the Hilltoppers won 10-7.
The team then moved on the play St. Joseph by the Sea in the city championship. The Hilltoppers got on the board early with a first-inning grand slam by sophomore captain Taylor Milata. St. Joe’s fought back, but key RBIs from freshmen Emma Meade and Sam Merino put Mary Louis on top to stay en route to a 9-3 win.
Freshman pitcher Liz Hanover turned in another solid performance as she had done so all season as the team’s only pitcher. The Hilltoppers only had three sophomores this year, but the young team, led by head coach Meg White and assistant coach Toni Anne Campuzano, did not let anything stand in their way.
Junior Varsity ‘A’
In the junior varsity ‘A’ division diocesan championship, St. Edmund Prep followed suit from their varsity counterparts in earning the Brooklyn/Queens title. The Eagles defeated Bishop Kearney in the championship game.