Lady Jets topped in finals

Minutes after coming up short against MacArthur in the decisive game of the Nassau Class AA softball championship series, East Meadow coach Stu Fritz couldn’t help but think about what the future may hold.

“This was our third straight appearance in the finals, and we don’t want the run to end here,” Fritz said after the second-seeded Lady Jets fell 13-2 last Saturday at Mitchel Athletic Complex. “Jenna [Dragoon] was our only senior and we’re going to miss her, but we’re bringing back some exciting talent and hopefully next year will be our year.

“MacArthur outplayed us,” he added. “They came out swinging and put us in a hole. We battled hard, but sometimes you’ve just got to tip your hat when the other team plays better.”

The top-seeded Lady Generals, who won their first county title since 2004 and advanced to meet either East Islip or Longwood for the L.I. Class AA championship, scored three times in the bottom of the first and twice more in the second to give All-State pitcher Kristen Brown all the offensive support she would need.

“I told the girls we were fortunate to have a second chance to win the series,” said MacArthur coach Rob Fehrenbach, whose team took the series opener 2-1 on May 23 but dropped Game 2, 3-2 in nine innings, the next day. “The girls were anxious to get back on the field,” he said. “We popped out a lot the other day. Today we hit line drives.”

After left fielder Briana Lombardo’s diving catch of a Madison West drive ended the top of the first, Brown got things started in the bottom of the inning with a single to right. Brown scored the game’s first run on a single by Kristen Arbiter, and Lombardo knocked in Jena Cozza and Arbiter with a double in the gap to make it 3-0.

MacArthur added two runs on three hits in the second as Cozza and Arbiter drove in runs to make it 5-0, but the Lady Jets got to Brown and made some noise in the third. With two outs, Kerri Shapiro singled home Tianna LaRosa, and Madison West singled home Dragoon, and it was quickly 5-2.

Emma McKillop came on to pitch for East Meadow in the bottom of the third and worked a 1-2-3 inning, but MacArthur got the bats going in the fifth and upped its lead to 10-2 with a five-run outburst. Cozza, Emily Lyons, Kristin Daly and Krissy Gay had RBIs. Brown put the icing on the cake with a two-run single in the sixth.

“A lot of people probably had us written off late in Game 2,” said Fritz, “but not me. These girls fought hard all year.” 

The Lady Generals were in line for a sweep when they led by two runs in the sixth inning of Game 2 on May 24, but East Meadow rallied for a 3-2 nine-inning victory to push the series to the limit. West’s two-run single tied it, then Claire Travis squeezed home Dina LaRosa to win it. Shapiro went the distance, allowing just five baserunners.