By STEVE SINISKI
The outburst supported starter Heather Viola, who pitched a complete game and struck out 13 batters, including eight through the first three innings. The win sent the Lady Jets into a third-round matchup against No. 5 Carey at Mitchel Field last Tuesday. The best-of-three finals awaited the winner, with games set for Thursday, Friday and May 30 (if necessary) at Mitchel Field as well.
³Our hitting was the key,² East Meadow coach Crystal Boyd said. ³Our bats got us through. It was just a matter of time, and the girls know they have to score to win.²
There were no home runs, but the Lady Jets (16-1) made good use of their six hits and three stolen bases in the third, turning an early two-run deficit into a 7-3 edge. ³We mixed it up nice and I think we caught them off-guard,² Boyd said of the rally. ³Everyone really hit well.²
The frame started when catcher Patti Serzo reached on an error. Courtney Garland followed with a bunt single, advancing courtesy runner Jenna Szwejkowski to second. Meghan McKillop¹s looping single to right plated Szwejkowski. With runners at the corners, East Meadow started to exert pressure on the Kennedy defense, as courtesy runner Alexa Salzman stole the first base of the inning. It took away the force play, and paid instant dividends. Melissa Douglas dropped a suicide squeeze, but Garland eluded the tag of Lady Cougars pitcher Veronica Vozzolo at the plate to score the tying run.
³There were a couple of plays we could have made that we didn¹t,² Lady Cougars coach Frank Ferrara said.
The inning continued when Douglas stole second and later scored on Terese Graziano¹s RBI groundout. Angela Ruffini added a run-scoring single, and the frame was capped by consecutive RBI doubles by Lindsay McKillop and Brianne Dorato, the latter one one-hopping the wall in left-center.
³[You¹re] able to do a lot more as soon as you start bringing in the infield on a hard infield [surface],² Boyd said, noting the pressure put on the defense with the aggressive base running.
Kennedy didn¹t go quietly, however, as it scored two runs in the fifth inning on a two-out single by Angela Calia.
³They played [us] tough earlier,² Boyd said, noting the 6-3 decision the Lady Jets won on April 24. ³The first game] was tied 3-3 and we came back to score three runs. We knew they would be tough.²
A leadoff triple by Melissa Zakalik, who came around to score on a wild pitch, staked Kennedy to an instant 1-0 lead, but Viola fanned the next two hitters to end the inning.
³She got the outs when she needed them,² Boyd said.
East Meadow tied the game at 1-1 after just two batters stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the first. Ruffini smacked a single over the shortstop¹s outstretched glove, stole second base and scored on Lindsay McKillop¹s double to left.
