Lady Spartans gain share of first

Valley Stream North not only spoiled Jericho’s chances of wrapping up the Nassau Conference A-III softball title with a convincing 9-0 home victory April 27, the Lady Spartans earned a split of the season series and opened the door for themselves to secure at least a share of first place.

“It was our best game of the year,” VSN second-year coach Corey McNamara said. “We had a big crowd and came out swinging.”

Junior pitcher Kelly McConville scattered six hits and struck out three on the way to earning her third shutout this spring and sophomore Amanda Ferraro went 2-for-3 and knocked in five runs to lead the Lady Spartans, who stand at 9-1 in conference play (11-3 overall) and have won nine straight since a 4-0 defeat at Jericho April 2.

“We finished in a three-way tie for the conference title last year and our goal this year was to win it outright,” McNamara said. “Losing the conference opener put a damper on things off the bat, but we’ve got a special group that I knew could handle pressure.”

North batted around and built a 5-0 lead against Jericho in the bottom of the first inning, highlighted by Ferraro’s two-run double. Though McNamara was thrilled with the start, he took a minute to remind players a lot can happen over the next six innings. “Five-runs lead can disappear quickly in softball,” he said. “But Kelly got them out 1-2-3 in the top of the second and we never let them get any momentum.”

McConville has logged the majority of work in the pitching circle and is limiting walks and recording clutch outs. “Kelly’s doing a nice job,” McNamara said. “She’ll get her three or four strikeouts every game, but she’s a groundball pitcher who relies on the defense. Our defense has been strong all year.”

Senior captain Holly Dugan and sophomore captain Dana Morgante are defensive leaders from the shortstop and catcher positions, respectively. Both are also major contributors at the dish. Dugan is hitting .419, while Morgante has a team-high .460 average, three homers, 24 runs and 18 steals.