May 20 was a day to remember for Providence Catholic softball star Hannah Falejczyk.
On her 18th birthday, and just a few hours before she was to walk the stage at graduation, the senior slugger lined a two-run, sixth-inning homer off Morris’ Gigi Corban to propel the Celtics’ to a come-from-behind 4-3 victory in the Class 3A Providence Regional.
Adding even more intrigue to the moment, the at-bat could have been the last of Falejczyk’s career with the Celtics and came off a hurler she’s had trouble against before.
“I was looking inside,” Falejczyk told the Herald-News. “She was throwing me inside all game. I wasn’t sure I got it. I thought it might be a long out, but then I looked up and thought it’s got a chance.”
Things turned out much better than that for Providence, which improved to 24-11.
“It’s a heck of a hit on her birthday,” Celtics coach Jay Biesterfeld, who saw Falejczyk’s 12th homer push the team total to a school-record 56 for the season, told the Herald. “I thought we were swinging defensively at times, and we talked about that before that inning. Sometimes, the girls are able to execute what you tell them. We have played good teams this year and Morris played a very good game. They had us on the ropes.”
Providence battled back into the game in the third on Maggie Joutras’ single and Taylor Young’s two-out double.
Things went unchanged until the sixth when Falejczyk came up and capped her big day.
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