Molloy beats Dowling in Division II softball regional final
Please do not refer to Molloy's softball team as a Cinderella story.
Despite the Lions' sixth seed, the magic they used to beat No. 2 Dowling, 4-3, in a Division II regional Sunday was not of the fairy godmother variety.
No, their success came thanks to that old recipe of good pitching and timely hitting.
Molloy freshman Haley Calderwood doubled down the rightfield line against ace Jessie Stavola to drive in Jeana Frey and break a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning, and Molloy held on for the victory at Golden Lions Field at the Dowling Brookhaven campus.
With starter Megan Butterworth out of the game, Kelly Jansen shut down the Golden Lions (44-17) with four innings of perfect relief.
Molloy (41-18) advances to the Division II East Super Regional and earns a shot at the College World Series. It did this with wins against Dowling (ranked 20th in the nation) and third-seeded C.W. Post (24th).
It was the Lions' first tournament bid in the program's fifth year.
"It's definitely a big surprise," Jansen said. "We're kind of underdogs, and to do this as [a] freshman is cool."
In fact, Molloy, a relative fledgling in the softball world, is on its fourth recruiting class and boasts a slew of underclassmen. Calderwood, a freshman, said being able to pull out two wins against Stavola, a transfer from UConn who dealt Molloy two regular-season losses, was quite the accomplishment. Molloy defeated Stavola, 2-1, on Saturday.
"We had a plan of action against her," Calderwood said. "Force her to throw the ball to us, lay off of that rise ball, and let her pitch."
On the other end, there was Butterworth. The freshman, who injured her forearm earlier in the year, was on a limited pitch count after throwing the last two days. She allowed three runs and four hits in three innings and set the table for Jansen.
"Jansen told [Butterworth], 'You start it, and I'll finish it for you,' " coach Susan Cassidy-Lyke said. "She really had to hold it together."
Especially if Molloy was going to get to Stavola. The sophomore and East Hampton alum entered the game with a 1.02 ERA and a 19-5 record and defeated Molloy three times in five tries. Saturday's loss came on an unearned run.
Nursing a 1-0 lead in the second, Stavola gave up an RBI single to Alexandra Sydor to tie it up. Molloy scored twice more in the third to take a 3-1 lead, but Dowling came back in the bottom of the frame with RBI doubles from Emily Slack and Kristen Weeks. Stavola eventually was dealt the defining blow on Calderwood's hit in the fifth. She gave up four runs, three earned, and seven hits.
"They made adjustments," Stavola said. "They knew me as a pitcher and you can tell they really wanted it."
