East Meadow back in title series

East Meadow is making a habit of reaching the Nassau Class AA softball championship series.

Pitcher Kerri Shapiro fired a one-hitter with four walks, while Dina LaRosa and Emma McKillop had clutch two-out RBI singles to lead the second-seeded Lady Jets past No. 3 Massapequa, 2-0, in a semifinal playoff game May 17 at Mitchel Athletic Complex.

Shapiro, a sophomore, lost her no-hit bid when Alyssa Zinkiewicz led off the top of the seventh inning with a bloop single to center. The Lady Chiefs put the tying runs on base in their final at-bat, but Shapiro got Elizabeth Doherty on a grounder to LaRosa at first base to end it.

“I know a lot of their players from travel ball and did my best to pitch away from their strengths,” said Shapiro, who reached base in all three of her plate appearances with a single, triple and walk. “It’s exciting to be back in the finals,” she added. “I think it’s going to be a great series.”

East Meadow, which has split the past two best-of-three county championship series’, winning in 2010 and coming up short last spring, will face top-seeded MacArthur for the title.

“The two playoff games we’ve played so far were a microcosm of the season,” Lady Jets coach Stu Fritz said. “We lost four games by a total of six runs and won six games by a total of eight runs. Every game can go either way. I’m happy and proud that today went our way.”

East Meadow scored in its first at-bat against Massapequa pitcher Renee Vaiano, who allowed eight hits and struck out eight. The only walk she issued, to sophomore catcher Madison West with two outs in the bottom of the first, came back to hurt when Shapiro singled West to second, and LaRosa singled her home for a 1-0 lead.

Shapiro retired the first six batters she faced and worked out of a minor jam in the third after a pair of full-count walks put runners on first and second with two outs. A come-backer off the bat of Danielle Giurlando ended the threat.

After both pitchers retired the side in order in the fourth, East Meadow (14-7) flashed some defense in the fifth. Jenna Dragoon, the only senior on Fritz’s roster, made a fine play on a fielder’s choice for the second out, and West came up firing from behind the plate to catch Doherty sneaking off first base for the final out.

Massapequa (12-8) had a runner in scoring position with one out in the sixth, but Shapiro got a strikeout and flyout to keep the lead and no-hitter intact. The insurance run in the bottom of the inning, when McKillop singled home Taylor Conti, Shapiro said, helped take the pressure off going into the seventh. “Having that extra cushion was big,” she noted.

The Lady Jets lost twice to MacArthur during the regular season — each time by two runs — but Fritz said they’re confident. “Hopefully we have our hitting shoes on and it’ll be a great series,” he said.