Seaford falls short against Mineola

Seaford’s quest for a third straight Nassau County softball championship was thwarted by Mineola and star sophomore pitcher Autumn Malone on Monday afternoon.

Malone not only dominated in the circle for a second straight game in the best-of-three final series, but also blasted a long two-run homer over the fence in right-center in the Mustangs’ 5-0 victory. She allowed just one hit — a two-out double to Seaford freshman Riley Betz in the bottom of the sixth — as Mineola captured its first county title since 1998.

“Autumn Malone had a great series and kept our bats tied up for most of it and that’s not easy to do with our lineup,” Seaford coach Joe Nastasi said. “Give her a lot of credit.”

The Mustangs, who advanced to meet Miller Place for the Long Island Class A crown, scored twice in the top of the second when Kiera Santaniello singled home Maone and Ava Lopez. That was all the run support the southpaw pitcher would need.

“It’s very cool and exciting,” Mineola coach Monique Wink said. “Seaford has tremendous hitters, especially one through five. Autumn just did a great job hitting her spots and getting the big out every time we needed one.”

Seaford had a chance to clinch the championship last Friday, but fell 2-1 in nine innings after holding the lead going into the bottom of the fifth. Malone delivered the winning hit in the bottom of the ninth to keep the Mustangs' season alive.

The Vikings had a golden chance to extend a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth with runners on the corners and no outs before Malone escaped trouble with two pop-ups and a groundout to third.

Not adding any insurance runs proved costly the next half inning when Mineola tied the game on an Amanda Baker’s RBI single.

Seaford was in position to retake the lead in the top of the ninth when Mineola intentionally walked senor pitcher/shortstop Skyer Secondino with runners at first and second and two outs. Malone once again got out of the jam though by inducing a groundball to shortstop from junior Lauren LoPresti.

Betz started the game and held Mineola hitless through four innings. Secondino relieved Betz in the fifth and recorded five strikeouts in her four innings of work.

Betz helped deliver Seaford the lead when she hit a triple with one out in the fourth inning followed by an Alyssa Rodriguez RBI double that scored courtesy runner Katie Padavan.

The Vikings took game one of the best-of-three series on Thursday, 4-1, on the strength of an 11 strikeout performance from Secondino. The offense featured one RBI apiece from Shannon McClernon, Kaitlyn Young, Secondino and Rodriguez.

“Our girls had a heck of a season competing in the top conference and having a lot of success with 15 wins including playoffs,” Nastasi said.