Lady Jets grounded in title bid

The big inning that wasn’t for No. 4 East Meadow quickly became the big inning that was for No. 2 Farmingdale, as the Lady Dalers raced to a four-run lead in the first and held off the Lady Jets (11-8 overall) for an 8-5 victory to capture the Nassau County Class AA softball championship in the third and deciding game at Mitchel Athletic Complex May 26.

East Meadow saved its best scoring opportunity for last, scoring two runs in the top of the seventh before Farmingdale starter Isabella Corrao ended the threat with her 12th and 13th strikeouts of the game. Sophomore shortstop Danielle Cutuli led off the inning with a line drive single off the glove of Lady Dalers third baseman Kristie Summus and advanced to third when senior Jaime Laird blooped a double to left-center with the defense guarding against the home run. Both came around to score when freshman Kerri Shapiro hit a seeing-eye single up the middle.

But just when it seemed the Lady Jets were set to finally take off against Corrao, freshman Madison West, the Lady Jets hitting hero in Game 2, popped out to short. Corrao then struck out sophomore Taylor Conti and junior Becky Syers to end the series.

“I think we fought hard and continued to chip away but those eight runs were too much to overcome,” East Meadow coach Cindy McCarthy said. “That first inning we had too many mistakes.”

Things started out great for the Lady Jets, as senior Samantha Miller worked out a full-count walk to leadoff the game, advanced to second on an infield single by Cutuli and scored on a double by Laird. The potential for a big inning unraveled quickly, however, after West boomed a sacrifice fly that appeared to score Cutuli. Though she beat the throw home, Cutuli returned to third following the play as the umpires held a group discussion about the initial call trying to decide if Cutuli left third early. Cutuli failed to touch home on the way back to third—a rare procedural call after an appeal by the Farmingdale coaches--and was called out. The play took the run, and a potential two-run lead, off the board and the inning ended on the odd double play.

The Lady Dalers wasted no time taking advantage of their change of fortune with their first five batters getting on base on a walk, a pair of infield singles, a double and the big blow, a triple by Summus with the bases loaded that opened up a commanding 5-1 bulge. “It was a quick turning point in the game and the momentum switched when we got the call,” Farmingdale assistant coach Brandon Oppenheim said. “We had been working on our hitting [extensively] all week.”

Staked to a four-run lead, Corrao settled down after the shaky first inning, and at one point between the third, fourth and fifth innings, she recorded eight straight outs by strikeouts. She allowed 10 hits, including an RBI by freshman Marissa San Antonio on a drag bunt in the sixth that scored Conti, and a homer by Cutuli in the third, but minimized the damage with the strikeouts. “She’s a great pitcher and she challenges everyone,” McCarthy said. “She’s tough. You just want to try and keep the ball in play.”