MacArthur ousts Long Beach

A third time against MacArthur wasn’t a charm for Long Beach.

The top-seeded Lady Generals came out swinging in last Thursday’s Nassau Class AA softball semifinal playoff matchup and gave All-State pitcher Kristen Brown a quick five-run cushion on the way to a 9-1 win over the fifth-seeded Lady Marines at Mitchel Athletic Complex.

Jena Cozza, another All-State performer, began a perfect day at the plate with a two-run homer and Kaitlyn Fitzsimmons added a two-run single in the bottom of the first as MacArthur (18-3) advanced to meet No. 2 East Meadow in the best-of-three county championship series. Cozza went 4-for-4 with four RBIs, Fitzsimmons went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, and Brown scored three runs and held Long Beach (12-9) to four hits while striking out eight.

“They jumped on us early and made a difficult task that much harder,” Lady Marines coach Carmine Verde said of MacArthur, which swept the regular-season series by scores of 4-1 and 1-0. “Knowing after the first inning you need six runs against Brown to win, it’s tough,” he added. “They’re the type of team you need to beat 3-2 or 2-1 or even 1-0.”

The difference between the playoff semifinal and final regular-season meeting, played exatcly a week earlier, Verde said, was MacArthur’s ability to deliver hits in the clutch. “When they threatened in the last game we played, we didn’t allow any key hits,” he explained. “This time they got the bats going and kept them going.”

Down 5-0 heading into the top of the second, Verde said he tried to keep the mood positive and told his players “it’s a long game, let’s try to chip away.” 

Sophomore Brianna Rivera, one of Long Beach’s hottest hitters since the calendar flipped to May, got its first hit off Brown with a one-out single in the second but was erased on a double play. After MacArthur tacked on a run in the second, the Lady Marines broke through in the fourth when freshman Kelsey Larson hit a leadoff double and scored on senior Annie Winerip’s single.

But Brown would retire 10 of the last 11 batters she faced, allowing only a single in the fifth to junior Alison DiLello. 

“They’ve got two All-State players and they played like it at the right time,” Verde said.

Winerip (.395 average, 11 RBIs), Larson (.367) and junior pitcher Ashley Martin earned All-County honors, Rivera (three homers, 18 RBIs) and senior Kelsey McLaughlin were named All-Conference, and sophomore Heather Weinstein was All-Division.