Kennedy win streak at 10

Kennedy rides a 10-game winning streak into the Nassau County Class A softball playoffs set to begin this week. Boasting a 13-3 mark overall (12-2 in Conference ABC-II), the Lady Cougars earned the No. 8 seed in the upcoming tournament. The team clinched the regular-season championship on May 2 with a 4-2 win over Glen Cove and then improved its seeding three days later with a 6-5 win over Garden City in the finale.

“As a whole they all work well together,” Kennedy coach Cheryl Feldman said. “They’re not afraid to sac bunt runners over, give themselves up or steal bases. You can tell they all have softball smarts. You can tell they know what to do, they don’t have to be told what to do.”

A veteran team with just a handful of seniors but plenty of experienced juniors and underclass players, Kennedy’s been led by a pair of pitchers in the circle — senior Sydney Yormack and sophomore Danielle Polirer. Yormack won her sixth game of the season, on senior day against the Lady Trojans, throwing a complete game and allowing just three hits and four walks (two intentional) and one earned run while striking out eight. Polirer was the winning pitcher against the Lady Big Red, winning her seventh game by throwing a complete game allowing just three hits and a walk with 10 strikeouts.

“Not many teams are lucky enough to have two pitchers,” Feldman said. “It’s nice because Danielle and Sidney throw totally different.”

Senior Sam Berger’s sac fly drove home sophomore Kaitlyn Judd with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh for the winning run against Garden City. The game featured nine lead changes with Judd driving in a pair of runs with two hits and senior Cora Travaglione also plating two with a pair of hits. Polirer helped herself in the win over Glen Cove with two hits and a run batted in, and Travaglione drove in the go-ahead runs with a single.

A strong as the Lady Cougars pitchers have been, the lineup has provided plenty of run support. Travaglione enters the playoffs with a team-high .571 batting average and is tied for the team lead in RBIs with Judd (23), who is also batting .531 and has a pair of homers. Sophomore Amanda Maffucci is hitting an even .500 with two home runs and 14 RBIs. Polirer has also helped her cause — and Yormack’s — with a .429 batting average and 17 RBIs.

“I feel like they all meshed together very well,” Feldman said. “It just works. Everyone has some skills on this team.”

Sophomore Azaria Vargas is hitting .354 out of the leadoff spot and is No. 2 in runs, thanks to her ability to bunt and get on base and is also turning heads with her play at third base. “She’s one of the best fielding third basemen I’ve ever seen,” Feldman said. “She scoops everything up.”