Kennedy in tight battle for first

Not much separates the top three teams on the softball field in Conference AA-II. In fact, heading into the final 10 days of the regular season, Kennedy (10-4 overall, 8-2 in conference games), Syosset and Hicksville all had just two losses, and the three teams have all taken turns beating up on each other. The Lady Cougars appeared to get a leg up April 25 by knocking off the Lady Braves, 3-2, but they dropped an 8-3 decision to the Lady Comets last Monday. Kennedy swept the season series with Syosset and split with Hicksville.

“We went into the season and we weren’t really sure [how things would develop],” coach Tom Piccirillo said of his team, which features a roster with a sizeable number of younger players. “But we’ve hit the ball, played defense and pitched pretty well. The girls have confidence in their abilities.”

In the process of turning plenty of heads as they put themselves in the running for the playoffs and quite possibly a regular season conference title, Kennedy has been led by not one single player, but a collection of them who have taken turns coming up with the big hit or big play. “The funny thing about this team is that it’s always someone different,” Piccirillo said. “It’s always someone else coming up with the big hit, and that motivates [the pitchers].”

In senior Rebecca Ellison and freshman Sydney Yormack, Kennedy has a pair of top-notch starters that can throw an array of pitches to keep opponents off-balance. And it also helps that the defense behind them has regularly helped erase baserunners. Through the first 14 games the team turned a dozen double plays, including two against Syosset. In that victory, Yormack pitched a complete game and was backed up by senior Jamie Demmett, who hit a run-scoring triple to help overcome an early one-run deficit. “Everyone, in my mind, has been a standout,” Piccirillo said. “We want to be aggressive on the bases, swing the bat and hope good things can happen.”

The bats came alive in a 15-12 non-league win over Glen Cove last Saturday, part of a doubleheader that also saw the Lady Cougars drop a 4-3 decision to Division. Four different players slugged homers — Yormack, Demmett, junior Lauren Sustad and sophomore Missy Mavrogian — in the win. “From [hitters] two through eight anyone can hit a homer,” Picrirllo said. “And we do have tremendous speed.”

Kennedy closes out the Conference AA-II regular season with rematches against Plainview JFK (May 3, 4:30 p.m.) and Farmingdale (4:30 p.m.), looking for the series sweep against both opponents. Part of the success this spring has been driven by the team’s daily approach in practice that has carried over into the games.

“We keep it pretty simple,” Piccirillo said of maintaining an even keel. “We don’t try to change things up in practice. We keep everything nice and simple.”