Long Beach tops Baldwin

With both teams headed to the Nassau Class AA softball playoffs and only seeding at stake in last Friday’s Conference AA-II matchup, visiting Long Beach used a three-run rally in the top of the fourth inning to break a tie with Baldwin and never looked back in a 9-2 victory.

Eighth-grade catcher Meredith Fagan went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and drove in a run, senior Brianna Rivera hit a two-run homer, and senior pitcher Heather Weinstein struck out nine and walked none in one of her best performances of the year to lead the Lady Marines, who snapped a three-game slide and locked up the No. 9 playoff seed. The Lady Bruins, who will get the No. 10 seed, scored on a solo homer by junior Jade Aponte and on senior Michele Messina’s RBI single.

“We got contributions from everyone,” coach Carmine Verde said after Long Beach concluded its regular season with a record of 7-11. “They had a pasta party last night and told me this morning they were feeling good about today. It’s always good to go into the playoffs with a nice win.

“Meredith had a big day at the plate, Brianna hit a bomb, and Heather did a great job locating her pitches,” he added.

The outcome wasn’t what Baldwin coach Tom Llewellyn was looking for on a day when seniors Messina, Jess Pulis, Ari Richardson and Rebecca Drew were honored before their final home game. Pulis roped a double in her first at-bat and made several nice plays in left field. “Our last four games before this were all one-run games, and we were one play away from winning all of them,” said Llewellyn, whose 6-11 team has a likely first-round playoff date with Calhoun. “We didn’t hit too well today. Normally we’re swinging hard, but I don’t know what happened.

“I still think we can be a dangerous opponent in the playoffs,” he added.

Weinstein and Baldwin junior pitcher Melanie Sadowski both cruised through the first two innings. Long Beach pushed across a run in the top of the third with a two-out rally that began with a single by junior Rachel Brenner. After a single by junior Kelsey Larson and a walk to Rivera loaded the bases, Weinstein hit a hard infield grounder that went for an error and Brenner scored.

The Lady Bruins answered with two outs in the bottom of the inning. Shortstop and leadoff batter Aponte drove a deep fly to center and jetted around the bases to barely beat a perfect relay throw to the plate, sliding under Fagan’s tag to make it 1-1.

The fourth began with a nifty defensive play at second base by Richardson, but Fagan followed with a double and scored the go-ahead run on a single up the middle by senior Julianna Zaharias. Brenner brought home Zaharias, and freshman Tonianne Larson scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-1.

Weinstein scored on an error in the fifth, Rivera went deep in the sixth, and Paulina Cardona and Kirsthie Rodriguez scored and drove in run, respectively, in the seventh to cap the scoring for Long Beach, which opens the playoffs at Hicksville. Freshman Montia Moon singled and scored Baldwin’s second run.