Bonnies go to bat for Autism Awareness

What started out as a gray and overcast day on Saturday, April 30 at Bergen Beach, turned into a favorable, sunny and successful day for Fontbonne’s Second Annual Autism Awareness Tournament. Organized by Fontbonne Varsity Softball Head Coach Frank Marinello, the tournament hosted 20 teams with 800-plus participants from New York City and Long Island to raise over $9,100, beating last year’s total donations of $8,500.

Prior to the weekend tournament, the Bonnies lost two games during the week to Mary Lewis and St. Francis Prep, which gives Fontbonne a record of 2-3 on the season,

Mary Lewis 4 Fontbonne 1

After starting the season on the road, the Bonnies finally played their first game at home at Dyker Park that proved to be a rough homecoming. In the first inning, the Bonnies opened the game on Natalie LaCognata’s deep drive to right field which quickly went for naught. Anxious to round to the bases, LaCognata was tagged out at third base when she hurriedly missed both second and third base in her haste to score.

As a carryover from their previous game, fielding and throwing errors cost the Bonnies two runs as Mary Lewis went up 2-0 in the bottom of the first, which set the tone for the rest of the game.

Fontbonne’s lone run came in the second inning when Bianca Marletta led off the inning with a triple and eventually scored on a wild pitch. The Bonnies squandered their last chance to score later in the inning with runners on second and third and no outs. With two runners in scoring position, Samantha Marletta lined a deep shot to center but both runners misjudged the fly ball out and held their bases. After a walk to Elizabeth Tesoriero to load the bases, LaCognata came up and hit into an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play to kill Fontbonne’s scoring threat.

Mary Lewis increased its lead in the sixth inning on a playable ball to center field that was misjudged that led to two singles to give the Hilltoppers a 4-1 lead. For the loss, Bianca Marletta only allowed two earned runs on six hits along with five strikeouts. On offense, the Bonnies bats were quiet except for two hits apiece by Marletta, Nicole Fallon and Alex Bertelli.

St. Francis Prep 4 Fontbonne 2

After losing their home opener to Mary Lewis, the Bonnies traveled to Queens to face their division rivals St. Francis Prep. Fontbonne opened the scoring in the second inning on singles by Gabby Casagrande, Emily Manti and Abigail Fogliano to take a 1-0 lead.
Coming up in the third inning against pitcher Bianca Marletta, the Terriers managed to get two consecutive singles. Subsequently, the next batter hit a long fly ball to center that allowed two runs to score. The Terriers added to the score as catcher Manti dropped the ball at the plate attempting to tag the runner that resulted in a St. Francis a 3-1 lead.

The Bonnies scored one run in the top of the sixth, but errors by right fielder Nicole Fallon and second baseman Alexa Bertelli gave the Terriers another run for the final 4-2 St. Francis lead for the win. The Bonnies consequently went down in order in the top of the seventh inning for their third consecutive league loss.