Malverne moves over .500 mark

It took a while for Malverne to get its offense going against visiting Lawrence on April 25, but the Lady Mules had key hits and took advantage of a few errors in a six-run fourth inning that paved the way to a 15-1 Conference ABC-V softball victory.

Junior Kim-Lin Ramasawak’s two-run single capped the outburst that gave Malverne (7-6 overall, 4-2 in conference play) a 9-1 lead. The hosts scored six more times in the sixth, including a two-run single by freshman pitcher Sydney Witowski and a pinch-hit, three-run homer by freshman Kim Danns, to reach double digits in runs for the second time in three games.

“We’re aggressive with the bats and on the bases, and Sydney’s pitching keeps us in every game,” Malverne coach Jennifer Gibbons. “We’ve got a fun group of girls. They’re working hard and playing hard.

“Lawrence has improved since the last time we played and hung right with us until we finally got going,” she said of the Lady Golden Tornadoes, who had two wins of their own last week and stand at 3-4 in the conference and 3-5 overall.

After Witowski retired the side in order in the first, the Lady Mules pushed across three runs in the bottom of the inning with two outs and nobody on base. Junior Jessica Mele (3-for-3, three runs scored) hit her first of three consecutive singles, Witowski reached on an error, and senior Sara Robinson walked to load the bases. Mele and Witowski scored on an error, and Robinson crossed the plate on a wild pitch for a 3-0 lead.

Lawrence answered in the top of the third with its only run manufactured by senior Joseline Castillo. She led off with a double, stole third and came around the score when the throw sailed into left field.

The score was still 3-1 when Malverne came to bat in the fourth against Golden Tornadoes freshman pitcher Emily DiNardi, who threw a no-hitter 24 hours earlier in a win over Roosevelt. Aided by two errors and with three hits, the Lady Mules sent 11 batters to the plate and six scored to open the floodgates. “We have to do a better job at damage control,” Lawrence first-year coach Matt Wynn said. “We’ve improved at stopping the big innings. In the games we’ve won, we’ve executed and limited errors.”

Two of Malverne’s losses are by one run. It came up short, 10-9, against East Rockaway, despite home runs by Robinson, senior Karen Ulysse, and freshman Ariel Frazee, and fell 8-7 to Lynbrook. Down the stretch, the Lady Mules will look to avenge conference losses to Cold Spring Harbor and Wheatley.