MacArthur captures L.I. crown

MacArthur led Mount Sinai by five runs in the bottom of the third inning of last Friday’s Long Island Class A softball championship game at St. Joseph’s College when lightning struck, causing a stoppage of nearly 40 minutes.

The Lady Generals busted out the vocal cords and dance moves during the delay and when play resumed, so did their momentum. Junior pitcher Jessica Budrewicz allowed just one hit after the weather cleared and the offense added two runs in the top of the fourth as MacArthur rolled to a second straight L.I. title with a 7-0 victory. 

“The break helped me because I didn’t feel like I was pitching well in the beginning,” said Budrewicz, who stranded a pair of baserunners in each of the first two innings. “My location wasn’t good early in the game, but it got better and the defense always has my back,” she added.

A year after falling in the state Class AA semifinals, the Lady Generals (23-3) will play in the state Class A semis this Saturday at 9 a.m. in Glens Falls against defending champion Maine-Endwell. The state title game is at 1:30 p.m. Mount Sinai suffered its lone loss of 2017 after winning 22 straight.

“I’m so happy and excited for these kids,” MacArthur coach Bob Fehrenbach said. “Having Jess doing her thing out there is comforting for me and her teammates, but when it comes to offense we never know who’s going to come through. It’s always someone different or a different set of two or three different kids. It’s the whole team.”

Everyone came through at the plate against Mount Sinai. The Lady Generals pounded out 12 hits, with all but one coming against Lady Mustangs standout Julia Golino, and had seven different run scorers. “We spent a lot of practice time on hitting this week,” Budrewicz said. “We were ready.” 

Catcher Ashley Budrewicz made sure her battery mate and twin sister stepped in the circle with a lead. MacArthur led 1-0 after Ashley reached base on a fielder’s choice in the top of the first and scored on sophomore Lisa Fabig’s double that rolled to the fence in left.

“We found the gaps today,” said Fehrenbach, who noted the team’s seven extra-base hits. “It was huge that we strung hits together and had a few big innings, but we also managed to get a run one inning when we had two outs and nobody on.”

Sophomore Nicole Pinto led off the second with a single and was on second base with two outs when sophomore Victoria Agnoli reached on an infield hit. Both came around to score when senior Shannon Myles roped a double, and Myles was knocked in by senior Kristen DiCicco to make it 4-0.

A passed ball allowed junior Ali Verdi to score the fifth run in the top of the third as dark clouds rolled in just north of the field. Mount Sinai only advanced two runners into scoring position over the last five innings as MacArthur recorded its sixth shutout in seven postseason games. Fabig and junior Deanna Barrera added RBIs in the fourth to cap the scoring.  

“We’d love to go upstate and take care of business,” Jess Budrewicz said. “We just have to play our game.”