Hewlett turns table on rival

For a fourth straight year, it took extra innings to decide a softball game between Hewlett and Garden City. Only this time, the result was different.

Hewlett squandered a seven-run lead last Saturday but won it in the top of the eighth when Lauren Rubel singled home Ricki Stumacher with two out to give it an 8-7 victory in Conference ABC-IV. Rubel, the winning pitcher, and junior shortstop Alex Gioia each drove in a pair of runs for the Lady Bulldogs, who scored twice in the first and five times in the third on the way to snapping a two-game slide.

“It’s a big win,” Hewlett coach Vinny Lospinuso said after the team inched back over the .500 mark at 4-3. “Garden City is one of our biggest rivals, and we always seem to play wild games. They beat us three years in a row in extra innings, so I guess it was our turn.”

Rubel, who struck out 10 and gave up only three earned runs, got three fly ball outs—one each to Gabby Casanova at third base, Samara Yegelwel in left field, and Allie Spector at first—in the bottom of the eighth to shut the door. “Lauren has been throwing well and averaging close to 10 strikeouts per game,” Lospinuso said of Rubel. “In my opinion, she’s the best pitcher in the conference. She’s much more comfortable than she was last season and she’s throwing three pitches on command.”

After the offense produced a total of four runs in back-to-back losses to North Shore and Glen Cove, Lospinuso tweaked the lineup. “I think the new lineup caught the girls by surprise,” he said, “but after scoring eight runs we’ll probably stick with it.” The biggest switch was with Spector, a senior and three-year starter who moved to the leadoff spot and reached base three times in four at-bats.

“Allie’s hitting .400, and teams can’t pitch around her if she’s leading off,” Lospinuso said. “Having her first instead of third or fourth could also mean an extra at-bat from time to time.”

Senior catcher Katie Risolo (.333 average) hit third and drove in her team-leading sixth run of the season, and Yegelwel, the only sophomore on the roster, filled the clean-up spot. Junior Mackie Sperry, the backup pitcher, hit fifth and had two singles, one RBI and scored a run.

Garden City became Hewlett’s second one-run victim this spring. The Lady Bulldogs edged Jericho, 3-2, on April 8 when Yegelwel scored the winning run on an error in the bottom of the seventh. Rubel had 14 strikeouts and didn’t allow a hit until the sixth. Yegelwel had four RBI and Risolo the game-winning RBI in a 10-7 victory over Wheatley, while junior Liz Kamlet knocked in five runs to lead a 16-9 triumph over Roslyn.

“We have good chemistry off the field,” Lospinuso said. “If we do well in the second half of the season, we’ll have a chance to make the playoffs.”