Malverne takes conference crown

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Malverne’s softball team suffered a few tough losses during the opening month of play this season, including a 13-1 defeat to Great Neck South. However, down the stretch the Lady Mules took their game to another level, and rode a strong second half all the way to a Nassau Conference AB-IV championship.

“They just really wanted it a lot,” Malverne coach Jen Gibbons said. “They really just wanted to beat all of the teams they played going down the stretch at the end of the season. They came out ready to play.”
According to Gibbons, the Lady Mules started to elevate their play as the weather began to warm up.

“I think they just got increasingly better after about the first month of play. We’re not really a cold weather team,” she said. “When we played teams again the second time around, we just did so much better.”

Malverne brought an impressive lineup to the plate. But, it was doing the little things that helped put the Lady Mules’ offense over the top. “After that first month we were better with our small ball,” Gibbons said. “We were better at getting steals, putting down bunts and things like that.”

One of the players who helped sparked the lineup with her speed was eighth-grader Courtney Moore.  She gave opposing pitchers plenty of headaches this season with her ability to steal bases.

Kym Danns was another key offensive contributor. The senior finished with three home runs, and came up with several key hits for the club, according to her coach. Danns hit two homers in her final game.

Alex Delligatti proved to be a major run producer, ranking second on the team with six home runs.

Arguably the Lady Mules most important player was Sydney Witowski. Not only did Witowski lead Malverne offensively, going deep nine times this spring, but she also served as the ace in the pitching circle.

One of Witowski’s best games came in a late-season win over Lynbrook. In the contest she went 2-for-4, with a double, triple and two RBIs. She also picked up the win on the mound, impressing her coach with her ability to find a way to get her team the victory. “(In that game) she did such a great job with her off-speed pitching to keep them from scoring too many runs,” Gibbons said.

Witowski followed with a no-hitter against Friends Academy in the season finale, giving the Lady Mules a 13-3 record and another conference title. They won eight of their last nine. Gibbons, the Conference Coach of the Year, is not only thrilled with the team’s success this year, but with how far the program has come in recent seasons.

“I’m so proud of them,” she said. “Malverne hasn’t been that strong a team in years past. But I have nine graduating, and in their high school careers, this is their second conference championship. I’m very impressed by them. They’ve matured so much from the beginning.”