Bats lead Hewlett over Lawrence

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With two runs in the top of the fifth inning and five more runs in the sixth, Hewlett blew open a close game at Lawrence last Friday and upped its winning streak to three with a 9-2 victory in Nassau Conference AB-IV softball action.

Freshman Harper Manus slammed a long solo homer in the fifth, her second round-tripper in as many days, and sophomore Hannah Prusack capped the sixth with a two-run single to lead the offense Lady Bulldogs, who improved to 7-4. The Lady Golden Tornadoes (3-11), who were down three starters, got run-scoring singles off the bats of senior Stephanie Sedhom and sophomore Ericka Kirchner.

“We’re a young team that’s really starting to hit the ball,” Hewlett coach Vinnie Lospinuso said after the game. “Yesterday against Malverne we had four home runs. Today we left some runners on base early, but eventually we hit.”

The Lady Bulldogs scratched across runs in the first and second against Lawrence senior pitcher Emily DiNardi, who was throwing for the fourth time in five days. “I asked her how she felt, and her response was it’s her senior year and she wants to be out there every game,” Lady Golden Tornadoes coach Tom Frawley said of DiNardi, a four-year starter and also one of the team’s top hitters. “She’s a tremendous competitor,” he added. “We don’t know who’s going to replace her next year. It’s not going to be easy.”

Hewlett senior Elysha Maloney manufactured the first run of the game, reaching on an error, stealing second, advancing to third on an error, and scoring on a passed ball. After Sedhom drove in senior Briana Curra to tie it, the visitors regained the lead when Prusack (2-for-3, three RBIs) singled with one out in the second and scored on sophomore Jessica Silberger’s two-out single.

Hewlett senior pitcher Margaret Feldman, who scattered eight hits and struck out six, worked out of a jam in the bottom of the fourth to hold the lead and got additional support in the fifth when Manus went deep and junior Val Elefante (2-for-4, two runs) singled and scored on Prusack’s fielder’s choice.

The Lady Bulldogs, who’ve totaled 31 runs during the three-game win streak, busted things open in the sixth when they batted around and managed five runs on five hits. Maloney, Silberger, Elefante, and senior Jamie Goldberg all singled and crossed the plate, and freshman catcher Lauren Dori also scored, making it 9-1.

“We’ve got a crazy week upcoming with five games in six days,” said Lospinuso, who plans to pitch Feldman and junior Ricki Sperry. “Hopefully we can keep it going.”

Lawrence, which has lost eight of nine, has closed the gap on the competition in Frawley’s second year at the helm and also got the JV program back up and running. “We’ve cut the run differential significantly compared to last year,” he said. “Our five seniors have all done and nice job and they’re all headed to outstanding colleges.”