Monday, June 16, 2025
The South Side and North Shore softball teams won’t be advancing to the Nassau County playoffs, but you could never tell given how hard and well both clubs played in the League 6 finale May 8.
Host South Side snapped a deadlock with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and sophomore pitcher Lily Iandiorio retired the Vikings in order in the top of the seventh for a 5-2 victory. Iandiorio struck out 10 and got offensive support from freshman Madison Pette and junior Olivia Caracciolo — both 2-for-3 — as the Cyclones (6-10) won for the third time in four games.
Sophomore Megan Whitcomb drove in both runs for North Shore, which finished 3-13 in league play.
“It was a hard-fought, back-and-forth game,” first-year South Side coach Angelica Garguilo said. “The last time we played them it was 16-12 us in the freezing cold and took two-and-a-half hours. Today was much more fun and quicker. We came out strong and were aggressive in the box.”
Iandiorio, who a week earlier eclipsed 100 strikeouts on the year, fanned at least one in six of seven innings and allowed only three hits. She’s the lone pitcher on South Side’s roster and threw every inning of every game.
“Lily always has her head in the game and stays positive the whole time,” Garguilo said. “She’s improved stamina-wise and it’s exciting that we’ll have her for two more years.”
The Vikings had seven seniors play their final high school game: standout shortstop and No. 3 hitter Adriana Porcaro (80 career RBIs), left fielder Alex Levin, their No. 5 batter, right fielder Ariele Escobar, center fielder Vanessa Jahnke, Taylor Silva (second base), Julianna Gaeta (first base) and Cassidy Bochove.
“It’s a great group of seniors that we’re going to miss,” North Shore coach Nicki Petrucci said. “All of them were major pieces. We didn’t win as many games as we would’ve liked, but the culture they brought every day it was made this season fun.”
Both pitchers who led the Vikings in the circle this spring contributed in the finale with junior Ava Varasano getting the start and sophomore Sophie Leigh working in relief. They were pressed into action when returning senior starter Grace Ryan not able to play. “Ava and Sophie did well and put the work in, and they plan to put more work in,” Petrucci said.
The Cyclones struck first with a pair of runs in the third. Leadoff batter freshman Madeline McKenna singled with one out and sophomore Riley McMahon followed with a walk. Then with two outs, Pette singled home McKenna with the game’s first run and McMahon came around to score on an error for a 2-0 lead.
It stayed that way until North Shore, which had won two of its previous three games broke through in the sixth with Whitcomb knocking in catcher Elsa Lanne and Silva to make it 2-2.
The Cyclones took advantage of some mishaps in the sixth to score the decisive runs. Touching the plate in the inning were all freshmen — Adriana Marquardt, Olivia Urrego and Jullian Lods.
