West Hempstead copes with injuries

When the 2016 softball season began, West Hempstead coach Chris Van Kovics figured numbers could be an issue for his team. With a short roster, and a lack of experience at many positions, the last thing he needed was injuries. 

But, that’s exactly what the Rams and Van Kovics are dealing with. The injury bug has plagued West Hempstead, forcing the coach to use a taxi squad approach, and for many girls to step into positions that they weren’t expecting to play.

The results haven’t been spectacular. After last Saturday’s heartbreaking 4-3 road loss to a strong Lynbrook team, the Rams stand at 1-4. Sophomore pitcher Julianne Graepel crushed a home run to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning to give Lynbrook the win. Freshman Sara Welti, who normally pitches for the West Hempstead junior varsity, had two hits in the loss.

Van Kovics knows his team has little margin for error. “We’re pretty limited in what we can do, so we need to try to play small ball and force teams to make plays,” Van Kovics said. “We’re definitely playing in the right league. Most the games have been competitive. It’s been tough on the girls, because there’s something new to deal with every day with the way we’ve had to change the lineup.”

With pitcher Dana Palermo throwing strikes, and Lynbrook making a few miscues, the Rams held a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. The Owls were in need of a clutch hit to tie things up and they got it. With Kacie Curran on third and two outs, Katherine Cusack drove a two-strike pitch up the middle to even the score.

After Graepel set the Rams down in the top of the seventh, the Owls would bring 3-4-5 to the plate in the bottom of the frame. They would only need their three-hitter. Graepel drove a 2-2 pitch from Palermo deep into the left-center gap to give Lynbrook, which improved to 6-2, the walk-off win.

“When I saw we had Julianne, Elisabeth DiCarmine and Georgia Krendel coming up in the bottom of the seventh, I was pretty confident we’d find a way to score the winning run,” Lynbrook head coach Pete Toscano said. “I figured Julianne would get on and we’d move her around. It didn’t go that that way, but this way worked, too.” 

Despite having just one win, the Rams have received strong play from Palermo, junior second baseman Kelsey Reichert, and senior Emma Shanley. Palermo pounds the zone, but doesn’t strike out a lot of hitters. 

Reichert has been a vacuum at second base where she’s yet to commit an error. Shanley has been steady wherever she’s been asked to play. Sophomore Laura Eivasi went 2-for-4 and scored a pair of runs in West Hempstead’s 8-3 win over Sewanhaka.

The Rams welcome in Locust Valley, the first-place team in Conference ABC-IV, next Monday for a 10:30 a.m. start.