Gibson pitches Port Jeff to its 3rd straight Class C softball title

Port Jefferson's Mollie Gibson never planned on starting a clinching county championship game. On a warm May afternoon, the junior hurler found herself on her home pitcher's circle with a tired right arm and a title at stake.

In an 8-2 victory over No. 3 Mercy (9-10) in the third and deciding game Saturday, Gibson wove a five-hitter with three strikeouts to help the Royals clinch their third consecutive Suffolk Class C title.

"I knew if we held tight and hit, we would be fine," Port Jefferson coach Debbie Brown said.

Gibson had been called into action earlier in the season when staff ace Michiko McGivney suffered a shoulder injury. McGivney moved to first base and Gibson, who last pitched in one game as a freshman, became the de facto go-to pitcher.

"Mollie is not really a pitcher, and she still helped us get the league and county titles," Brown said.

After winning the series opener, the Lady Royals lost a 14-10 slugfest where Gibson never found a rhythm. Early on in the deciding game, Mercy threatened to take charge and pick up where Game 2 left off.

In the first inning, Mercy had runners on second and third with one out. After getting cleanup hitter Kelly Crowley to line out to McGivney, Gibson notched an inning-ending strikeout.

After taking a 2-1 lead in the third inning, Port Jefferson found itself in need of an offensive spark. With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of fifth, Gibson cracked a bases clearing triple to deep rightfield to extend the lead to 5-1.

"It was a huge relief because after making an error the inning before, it helped out my confidence," Gibson said.

Added Brown: "She just has that confidence. On the mound and in the batter's box, she is so relaxed."

McGivney's two-RBI double in a three-run sixth inning proved to be the coup de grâce for Port Jefferson.

"We expect so much, and we plan on advancing much further," Gibson said. "But this was a big step for us."

Judging by the low-key celebration, with high-fives instead of hooting and hollering, the Suffolk crown is just a postseason appetizer.

"We have a long road," Brown said. "We have a destiny that we want, and that is to get upstate."

If they plan on taking more steps forward, the right arm of Gibson must continue to weave this late-season magic. This is a far cry from the preseason, when the concept of pitching never crossed her mind.

"I would have told them to warm up another person," Gibson joked.

Now, Gibson is the arm on the Lady Royals staff. And while that was never in her plans, sometimes the best-laid plans are meant to be changed.