Coaches are divided on the state of PSAL softball, but most can agree on one thing.
Changes are needed.
This season, the league implemented two new rules. A 30-run mercy rule was implemented for the third inning where previously it was 20 runs. And teams were moved up to Class A from the ‘B’ – mostly in Queens – for geographical reasons.
Those two alterations are not popular among coaches, for different reasons. The new mercy rule has made for wild scores, especially in the ‘B’ league, that resemble football games and not softball games with some teams scoring 40 runs.
“The 30-run rule is terrible,” Construction coach Marco Migliaccio said. “It makes no sense. If you’re losing by 30, that’s beyond embarrassing. Most good coaches aren’t going to beat teams by 30.”
Bryant coach Wally Hausdorf agrees with the latter point, but believes that the only run-rule should be 10 runs in five innings and that coaches can be creative with how they keep scores down. Clinton coach Rich Eaton doesn’t disagrees, but understands why coaches would want games to end as quickly as possible. Most teams only have one pitcher and the less innings they throw, the better. If the rule is what Hausdorf proposes, Eaton said, coaches would be less inclined to score as many runs.
“Thirty runs is also encouraging embarrassment, which is what the rule is meant to prevent,” Eaton said.
The adding of new teams up from the ‘B’ has effected Queens the most. Jamaica and Queens HS of Teaching have struggled in Queens A-I, combining for a 1-22 record. Both teams have lost almost every game by run rule. Grover Cleveland has scuffled in its move to Queens A-II, but Long Island City has been competitive with a 5-6 record.
“Even the teams themselves, they were complaining they were put in a division where they were overmatched,” said Francis Lewis coach Bryan Brown, whose team plays Jamaica and QHST in Queens A-II.
The lopsided scores – and they are present all over the city – has a ‘AA’ super league at the lips of most coaches. Brown believes it won’t happen, but says “we’ve gotta get to a ‘AA.’” Migliaccio bemoans the lack of competitive games on his league schedule when he can be playing non-league games against the other top teams from the PSAL and as well as elite squads from the CHSAA.
“This is why [college coaches] don’t do anything with the PSAL,” Migliaccio said. “Our game against Tottenville game was packed, but they’re not gonna come to any other games. Why would they want to see someone play against a girl who isn’t even throwing windmill?”
Migliaccio and Brown are all for a ‘AA’ super league with only the elite teams, much like the girls basketball league did this year in the PSAL. Eaton and Hausdorf have a differing opinion. They would like to see a ‘AA’ playoff with only about eight of the top teams competing for the city title and the next dozen or so playing for an ‘A’ title. The ‘B’ would remain the same. Hausdorf, who added that a Staten Island team has won the city championship all but three seasons since 1985, compared it to something similar to the NCAA tournament and the NIT in college basketball.
“I don’t think you need a ‘AA’ league, I think you need a ‘AA’ playoffs,” Eaton said.
At the very least, Migliaccio and Brown would like to see a combined Queens division. Right now, it is the only borough with two divisions split up. Construction, Bryant, Francis Lewis, Cardozo, Bayside and Forest Hills, they said, would make for a fine solitary division.
“I think it might be just as strong as Staten Island,” Migliaccio said.
Hausdorf says teams do have to move up from the ‘B’ eventually – they can’t just continue to beat up on teams in that league forever. It’s just a matter of sustaining that success at the ‘A’ level. The best thing to do, the legendary coach said, would be to just analyze PSAL softball every year and make sure the correct teams are in their correct spots.
“Re-evaluate, move people up and down,” the 32nd-year coach said. “But that would take a lot of work and a lot of cooperation on people’s part.”
Villa bearing down with playoffs coming: A year ago St. John Villa was the darling of the CHSAA, beating Moore Catholic during the regular season and knocking off St. Joseph by the Sea, the defending CHSAA state champions at the time, in the Archdiocesan semifinals. With some veteran players, including star Brittany Smith, graduated, it’s been much more about improving for this year’s Bears squad.
Villa has shown some signs of putting it all together. It lost just 12-7 to the Mavericks in their last meeting, beat Notre Dame 9-4 to move into third place in CHSAA Staten Island and split two games in the Mudville tournament last weekend. One of the big reasons has been the pitching of senior Sevdiana Liharevic, sister of former basketball star Shpresa Liharevic. An improving Bears defense, which can really turn the double play, have let her down at times. She tossed a one-hitter and allowed just two earned runs in the latest win over the Gators.
“She really hasn’t given up more than three earned runs in any game,” Villa coach John Curatolo said. “She has really been steady all year for us.”
Another big addition as been sophomore call ups, right fielder Jordan Cunningham and third baseman Dorothy O’Neill, also one of the school’s best basketball players. They are both hitting in the middle of the Villa order and have shown poise beyond their years so far.
“What I like about them is they get hits in big situations,” Curatolo said. “They get hits when you need hits. They get on base when you need them to get on base.”
His daughter Mary, who has excelled at the plate against faster pitching, hit a walk off homer in a win over Sacred Heart of Buffalo in Mudville. She also had two hits in a 4-0 loss to Cheryl Lopez and Tottenville. Arianna Trembone and Nicole Burt have also been steady. The Bears have improved on their signature bunt and slap game and it has them thinking things could go differently in the playoffs.
“Being this deep into the season I think I have a pretty good feel for my team,” Curatolo said. “I don’t know what I am going to get. I wouldn’t be shocked if we beat Sea or Moore. I know that we are capable of it.”
New coach, motion change has Eagles’ Fox excelling in the circle: Rowena Motylewski noticed the difference right away in ace Angelica Fox. The sophomore struggled with her control in the circle during her first season on the varsity as St. Edmund went winless in the top division in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens. That wasn’t the case anymore.
“I think it’s the difference between night and day,” the coach said. “I think she is a thousand times more confident, more accurate. … Now she is putting the ball where she wants to put it.”
Fox changed pitching coaches and has worked with Michelle Fratto, who used to coach James Madison star Kayla Hill, for the last three months at Dyker Beach Park. She has had her focus less on release point and more on the mental side of the game. She also changed her from hopping to the plate on her delivery to a slide step until she strengthens her legs. A few new pitches have been added to her arsenal.
“It helped a lot,” Fox said. “Last year I was terrible. This year I got so much better.”
It helps turn her into one of the top pitcher in the CHSAA/Brooklyn Class A division after the Eagles moved down. St. Edmund is 10-1 and tied for first place with Bishop Kearney after errors cost them a 3-1 lead in the seventh in a loss Monday to Kearney. She also went 3-for-4 and struck out seven in a win over Bishop Ford.
“It’s working,” Motylewski said. “The biggest thing with a young pitcher is getting her the confidence to know that she can indeed pitch as opposed to just throwing the ball over and let the people in the field do the work.”