Whether Mia Farinelli was going to play on the varsity team was never in question, it was just when.
Horace Man coach Ray Barile decided to keep the freshman pitcher on the JV to start the season in order to get her some experience. But rain canceled a bunch of games early and the pitchers on the varsity struggled with command.
“I said, bring her up and let’s see what we can do,” Barile said.
So far she has done plenty. Since she joined the team in early April, the Lions have lost just once, to four-time defending NYSAISAA champion Poly Prep. Farinelli was again superb in a 7-3 win over rival and host Fieldston in Ivy League softball Friday. She scattered six hits, struck out 10 and walked four, holding the Eagles scoreless over the final four innings. The win moves them into a second place tie with Fieldston.
“I just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t nervous,” said Farinelli, who throws hard and can move the ball around the strike zone. “I want to have fun with it. I just wanted to throw strikes. I know I have a good field behind me.”
Fieldston (6-2) tried to mount a final rally in the seventh inning, loading the bases with two outs, but Farinelli got Marisa Rackson to fly out to the end the game. She gave up just a run in the first inning on a Kate Miller single and two in the third where Miller, one of the city’s best players, brought home another. Farinelli, who didnt pitch in a season-opening loss to Fieldston, limited Poly Prep to just a run over nine innings in a 1-0 loss April 25.
“She has been absolutely amazing,” leftfielder Sophie Miller said. “She has been throwing some amazing pitches. She is really consistent. We have just improved incredibly with her.”
It was Sophie Miller though who provided the big hit for Farinelli and the Lions, who trailed 3-2 after three. Horace Mann (6-2) scored four times in the fifth inning, which was helped by some Fieldston fielding mistakes. The inning epitomized the reasons why Barile preaches trying to put the ball in play.
“We want to make teams have to make plays,” he said. “We don’t want to strikeout.”
Lauren DelPrete, who also had a sac fly, doubled to get things going against Fieldston starter Emily Kling. She later scored on an errant throw home as Horace Mann loaded the bases. Sophie Miller went down and lifted a ball over the head of rightfielder Carolena Marcos for a three-run triple to help the Lions take a 7-3 lead. Ali Hellman was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
“I knew there was a full count on me and I felt the pressure,” Sophie Miller said. “I was just really intense. I kept my eye on it, waiting for it and then I just let it rip.”
Similar to what Farinelli does in the circle. The early jitters, she said, are gone and the confidence she has in her fielders takes some of the pressure of trying to be too perfect, except for the way she has fit in.
“I really wanted to do the best that I could,” she said. “It’s been my dream for a long time now. I just wanted to show them that I deserved to be here.”