Lia Fong helps St. Anthony's softball repeat as CHSAA state champs
St. Anthony's softball celebrates its CHSAA softball state championship on Saturday, May 28, 2022. Credit: Newsday / Matt Lindsay
Nothing was going to stop St. Anthony’s softball team from winning its second straight CHSAA state title.
Not even a two-hour rain delay in the semifinals.
The Friars defeated St. Mary’s of Buffalo, 10-1, Saturday at the Staten Island Little League complex to claim their second state title in program history.
“I’m very proud of our girls,” coach Mike Massa said. “They had a goal at the beginning of the season and they accomplished it. They lost one game all year and everyone contributed.”
Sarah Bielski opened the scoring in the championship game with a single to bring home Bella Cruz and give the Friars a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
In the second, Cruz singled in Lia Fong and later scored on a single by Jackie Morra. Then Bielski broke the game open with a two-run home run to left centerfield to give St. Anthony’s a 6-0 lead.
“I knew I needed to get those runs in,” Bielski said. “It was my first home run of the season, so that was really big for me.”
Fong struck out seven batters in five innings while allowing one run to keep the Friars on top. Mila Fiordalisi pitched the sixth and struck out the final batter to seal the win.
“Our pitchers are amazing,” Bielski said. “Lia was awesome in this game and Mila was unbelievable in the first game and closed this one out so well.”
Earlier in the day, Bielski drove in five runs on two doubles in St. Anthony’s 12-0 win over Archbishop Molloy in the semifinals.
Morra hit a grand slam in the third inning to give the Friars an 11-0 lead.
“I was just zoned in looking for my pitch,” Morra said. “I didn’t try to swing out of my shoes, I just kept my mechanics in line and let the ball take care of itself.”
A few minutes later, the skies opened up and the game was paused for two hours.
“We just kept our energy high,” Morra said. “The break could’ve hurt us, but once we got back into the dugout we went back into game mode.”
St. Anthony’s finishes its season 24-1 with most of its starters returning for at least the next two years.
“It’s exciting to have a young team that’s accomplished so much already,” Massa said. “The next two years are looking pretty good.”
