By Steve Siniski
The Baldwin Bruins (11-2 Conference I-A) had five full games left on the schedule beginning with a May 6, road matchup with Hicksville and ending on May 13 on the road at Herricks. However, the Bruins also had two games suspended because of weather and they, too, may have to be made up if they have any bearing on the final conference standings.
"We're in the midst of a 2-2 game with Syosset and at this point, we are the top two teams in the conference, Baldwin coach Allyson Wolper said of her first-place Bruins and second-place Braves. The season's far from over, but we do control our own destiny. We also may have to finish a 6-3 game with Massapequa.
The Bruins took two more steps towards securing their final regular-season standing by defeating East Meadow and Calhoun. In the 1-0 win over East Meadow on May 3, a Laura Aksionoff single plated Shannon Logan with the game's only run, and pitcher Lisa Vaccaro fired a three-hitter.
In the 17-5 win defeat of Calhoun the following day, Logan and Jackie DeDomenici provided the fireworks with their bats. Logan finished the day 5-for-6 with four runs batted in and four RBI, while DeDomenici continued her offensive breakout by driving in three with a 4-for-6 performance at the plate.
Jackie's raised her batting average by over .200 points in the last week, Wolper said of DeDomenici's hot bat.
The game-winning hit by Aksionoff against East Meadow was just another in a long line of contributions from the entire team. It's not just coming down to Shannon [Logan] and Lisa [Vaccaro], Wolper said. In our win over Long Beach, it was Stephanie Eatz coming up with the big hit. Against Massapequa, it was Laura [Aksionoff] and Aylene Ilkson. It's been a different hero everyday.
And with the way the schedule closes, the first-place Bruins need to be firing on all cylinders. The Bruins hit the road to take on rival Syosset on May 8, before returning home the next day for a matchup with Long Beach (4:30 p.m.). The grind becomes three games in three days when Baldwin takes to the road on May 10 to play Massapequa at 4:30 p.m.
The schedule will have no effect on our pitching, Wolper said. Lisa is our No. 1 and she will go everyday if she can. We could spot start Shannon [Logan] or Alyene [Ilkson] to get Lisa some rest, but the bottom line is it's Lisa [on the mound].
We're hitting our stride now. It's not something we've talked about, but it's definitely happening. Losing to Oceanside [4-3 on April 24] was the turning point. We had the game and blew it, and the girls know it. They took that game from us.
Since the loss, the Bruins have won four straight, outscoring their opponents by a combined 27-10.
