By MARC BEJA
On the way to clinching the state title, East Meadow beat teams from Geddes and Cornwall before playing Cornwall a second time in the final round.
Coach Al Samonella was proud of all 13 girls on his East Meadow squad. ³This was a team full of MVPs,² Samonella said. ³I could give you a story about a great play or a great at-bat for each one of them.²
East Meadow¹s chances of making it to the finals were threatened when Samonella¹s daughter, Erica, the team¹s second pitcher, fell backward during a practice the day before the first game against Cornwall, spraining her catching hand. But that didn¹t stop Erica from taking the mound: She wrapped her wrist under her glove and pitched her team to an 11-6 victory.
Catcher Casey Kaplan said she had to gently lob the ball back to Samonella so as not to worsen her injury. ³We¹re just lucky the other team didn¹t catch on,² Kaplan said.
The road to the state title brought back sour memories for many of the girls who have played for the Williamsport team for a few years. Before making it to the state tournament, the team, led by pitcher Sabrina DeAngelis, had to defeat Islip, a squad that had beaten DeAngelis and her teammates in the regional division two years ago, and Samonella had to face Franklin Square¹s team, against which she was the losing pitcher in last year¹s Long Island championship tournament. But Coach Samonella was confident that this year his pitchers would come out on top. ³We wanted a little revenge,² he said. ³And we got it.²
DeAngelis admitted that she was a little nervous about facing the Islip squad. ³I was a little bit scared,² she said. ³I wasn¹t sure how good they were going to be.²
But DeAngelis had no reason to worry: She shut the Islip team out for the first four innings while her squad built a 10-0 lead. At that point the game was called due to a 10-run-lead mercy rule.
Erica Samonella pitched her team to an 8-5 victory in the Long Island tournament against rival Franklin Square.
Coach Samonella recalled one highlight that he believed made a huge impact in the final game of the state tournament. Second basemen Brittany Piket chased a hard-hit ground ball to shallow right field, diving to stop it from rolling into the outfield. While she was still on her back, she fired the ball to first base to record the out. ³I wasn¹t really aiming,² Piket admitted. ³I guess I was just lucky.²
While the East Meadow girls continued to roll past their opponents in every round, they said they always remembered to have fun. While they performed professionally on the field, they were motivated by more than just a trophy, they said: They did it for the love of the game. Leadoff hitter and centerfielder Stephanie Fertitta put it best. ³There¹s no pressure,² she said. ³I just go out and do what I love to do.²
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