Chaminade softball
Chaminade's quest for a third straight Div. IV championship is off to a shaky, albeit gutty, start.
Pitcher Emily Bliss has a fractured finger on her pitching hand.
Freshman Brittany Labbe, the team's No. 2 pitcher, hurt her shoulder trying to make a diving catch in right field during Chaminade's first-round, 1-0, extra-inning playoff win over St. Paul on Friday.
The team managed two hits, a pair of singles by Brittany Cervantes and Megan Tupper, and scored its only run in its first playoff game on a throwing error by the St. Paul catcher on a stolen base attempt.
First Bliss. Chaminade teammate Madi Zymkowitz said Bliss "really stepped it up."
"She was pretty tough and she fought through it," Zymkowitz said.
Bliss hurt her finger trying to catch a comebacker in a game against Alemany on April 15. Chaminade shortstop Brittany Cervantes said the day after the Alemany game, Bliss's finger was purple and black and "pretty big."
"She worked hard, definitely," Cervantes said. "You wouldn't know her finger was hurt."
Labbe getting hurt doesn't leave Chaminade coach Gina Hairapetian with many options. She said after the game that Labbe needs some rest and ice. She hurt her shoulder while playing right field. When asked if she had second thoughts about starting her No. 2 pitcher in the outfield when her No. 1 pitcher had a fractured finger, Hairapetian said she had no regrets.
But when Labbe hurt herself, Bliss said it made her dig deep.
"I told myself, 'Emily, you have to finish this,' because we didn't have anybody else after that," Bliss said.
Cervantes said Labbe is an important player on the team. In addition to playing the outfield and pitching, she has been at third base at times during the season.
"She's a big player on our team," Cervantes said. "She didn't want to come off the field."
As for the hitting woes, Cervantes chalked it up to Chaminade being a young team. Even though it's won the past two Div. IV championships, there are five seniors, two sophomores and one freshman on the team.
Chaminade had its chances to score against St. Paul. Cervantes and Megan Tupper led off the fourth inning with back-to-back singles and Chaminade had runners at first and third with no outs, but did not score.
"Every inning have have a chance to score," Cervantes said. "Our team is a young team. We should have capitalized. It wouldn't have been as nerve-racking."
When Chaminade had a chance to score the winning run against St. Paul, Hairapetian said nothing was going to keep her from sending Zymkowitz from second on an errant throw by the catcher into centerfield.
"It should have been a 3-0, 4-0 ball game," Hairapetian said. "It's a bad way to lose on a throw from the catcher. I just knew I had to send Madi. There was no way I was going to hold her back with two outs and us battling with our sticks."