More growth, wins for Malverne

As the ball off the bat of Malverne senior Anyely Rijo was midflight on its way to the outfield in a tie game with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning April 9, coach Nick Moreno took a quick glance at the Mules’ runner on third base.
“Once I saw it was Olivia [Jenkins], I knew she knew what to do,” Moreno said. “She’s fast and has great knowledge of the game.”
Rijo’s drive was caught by Hewlett’s right fielder but was plenty deep enough for Jenkins to tag and score the winning run in Malverne’s come-from-behind 15-14 victory. Junior Olivia Brown had three RBIs and senior Nirvana Cole pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts.
“We have a bunch of inexperienced kids and some of them may not have known to tag up in that situation, but it was a teachable moment and we’ve tagged up multiple times since that game,” Moreno explained. “We’re playing pretty well and some kids are learning as we go. If we can just tighten up the defense a little more, we’ll be even better.”
The Mules, 8-3 after blowing out Hempstead last Friday, are chasing first-place Uniondale in a competitive Conference 6 while looking to secure their third consecutive double-digit win season. Malverne was 10-8 in 2022 and 13-6 last spring.

“It’s exciting,” Moreno said. “The interest in softball in the community keeps growing. We have 18 girls on varsity, 22 on JV and another 22 at the middle school level.”
Cole, a captain along with Rijo and senior center fielder Luz Rodriguez, has been one of the conference’s top pitchers after splitting games last season. She has over 100 strikeouts and only 15 walks in 50 innings, Moreno said, and doing considerable damage at the plate with a .500 average.
“I bat Nirvana sixth or seventh to hide her in the lineup,” Moreno said. “She’s a good hitter. We need to be a little more consistent defensively behind her. Not to say our defense hasn’t been good overall because it has. We’ve just had some tough innings.”
Jenkins, who starts at third base and bats third, and Brown, who starts at first base, are two of Malverne’s impactful two-way players.
Rijo is the epitome of what’s happening throughout the program. She was recruited by Moreno to give the sport a try and picked up a glove for the first time last season. Now she’s the starting shortstop and cleanup hitter. She had a grand slam and 7 RBIs to lead a 13-7 victory over Valley Stream Central April 13.
Senior Raya Harrison is the starting catcher and future starter Brea Haye, a sophomore, is also contributing. In addition to the speedy Rodriguez, senior Daniela Brito has “glue in her glove” in right field, Moreno said.
Malverne split its season series with Uniondale and will look to avenge losses to Friends Academy and Valley Stream South down the stretch.