Mooney rallies past Fitch

By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- When Gina Brunetti has the bat on her shoulder, good things seemed to happen for the Cardinal Mooney High softball team.
Of course, through the first six innings of Monday's Steel Valley Conference game against Austintown Fitch, that was just an expression.
With the score tied at 6 in the bottom of the seventh, Brunetti came up with runners on the corners and one out. The junior already had a homer and three RBIs.
Hero time, right?
Well, not exactly.
Fitch's Jen Purnell threw a pitch in the dirt that skipped away from catcher Allison Kenney, and Mooney senior Kristin Laskowski raced home to score the game-winner, as the Cardinals rallied from a 5-0 deficit to beat the Falcons 7-6.
"It feels pretty good -- actually, really good," Laskowski said. "Even when we were down 5-0, I always sensed we could come back."
Resemblance
That comeback -- Mooney's biggest of the season -- reminded Cardinals coach Mark Rinehart of another good team: last year's.
"One of the marks of last year's team was that we were never out of it," Rinehart said. "We're a younger team this year and that was nice to see."
Laskowski, who went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI, was part of many of those rallies last year.
"But as a senior, it's more exciting," she said.
Mooney (14-6, 4-3 SVC) started the season 10-0, but hit a rough skid lately, mainly due to a stronger schedule. After the game, Mooney junior Petrina Morocco told the Cardinals, "Yeah, we're back."
"I think she's right," Laskowski said.
Early lead
The Falcons (9-8, 0-5) seemed poised to get their first conference win when they scored five runs on two hits in the top of the first. Brunetti answered in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer.
Fitch scored another run in the fourth, but the Cardinals scored two runs in the sixth to cut the deficit to 6-4.
In the seventh, starting pitcher Stefanie Grimaldi (7-4) led off with a single, Pam Walko reached on an error and Andrea Hawkins moved them up on a sacrifice bunt. Laskowski then hit an RBI single, Walko scored on a wild pitch and Katie Stickel singled to set up the final play.
"It was just an outstanding comeback," Rinehart said. "We got jumped on early, but we never stopped playing. A lot of teams would have [gone] into the tank.
"We're going through a growing process, but it's going to make us that much better down the road," Rinehart said.
Andrea Lucente had two hits, a walk and scored for Fitch and Kenney singled, walked and scored twice.
scalzo@vindy.com