Ashley Weisenstein admitted to be a bit nervous prior to her first start in a varsity championship game.
Her action, however, told a different story. And that just might be an understatement.
The hard-throwing right-hander fired a four-hitter and also belted a three-run homer to lead St. Joseph by-the-Sea to its first CHSAA Archdiocesan championship in eight years via a 10-2 victory over Notre Dame Academy Wednesday at Moore Catholic’s Graniteville complex.
The game was stopped with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning because of the eight-run mercy rule.
One year after suffering a disappointing loss in the Archdiocesan championship, Sea now reached the summit as it improved to 19-7 on the season. Coach Nicole Mancusi’s troops will also meet Archbishop Molloy of Queens in the combined Catholic state semifinal/CHSAA intersectional championship game on Tuesday at Mitchel Field in Uniondale, L.I. (11 a.m.).
Should the Vikings win that game, they’ll play the St. Anthony’s-Nardin winner for the state title at Hofstra University later Tuesday (1 p.m.).
St. Joseph by-the-Sea’s Maddy Lanza, right, safely slides into second base on a steal attempt while Notre Dame Academy shortstop Samantha DiDonna awaits the late throw during Wednesday’s CHSAA Archdiocesan championship game at Moore Catholic. (Staten Island Advance/Annie De Biase)
“Last year’s finish was obviously tough, but we did have a lot of returning players,’’ said Mancusi, whose team finished with 11 hits on Wednesday. “We didn’t start this season the way we wanted. We faced some adversity, but it made us stronger and it got us to this point.’’
Mancusi and the Vikings, of course, were well aware of what NDA (10-12) did against state-ranked Moore Catholic last Thursday and were ready as the Gators attempted to win their first Archdiocesan crown in 32 years.
“Anytime you face a team from Staten Island, we known its well-coached and talented,’’ praised Mancusi. “We know we have to play our…
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