East Meadow reaches county finals

Jets finish runners-up to Massapequa

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The East Meadow softball team has proven in recent years that it can beat the opposition in many different ways. The Jets proved that again last week and it landed them in a familiar position.

The Jets swept Syosset in their Nassau Class AA best-of-3 semifinal series on May 23-24 thanks to an explosive third inning that led to an 8-5 win before sophomore Julia Parise put forth a stellar performance at both on the mound and at the plate in the 2-0 clincher the next day to send East Meadow to a finals rematch against Massapequa. 

East Meadow made it to the county title series for the fifth straight season, but its only losses during that span came against the Chiefs last year and this year. Massapequa clinched the title Sunday with a 5-4 decision at Mitchel Athletic Complex. 

The Jets hosted the semifinal series opener on a warm Sunday afternoon and immediately scored in the first inning before Syosset recovered to take a 3-1 lead entering the bottom of the third. There, the Jets scored six times to chase Braves starter Nicolette Ferraro, highlighted by sophomore Madison Lehman’s home run. 

“At that point, almost every girl had seen the pitcher already, so I just told the girls, ‘Hey, you’ve got to make your adjustments,” East Meadow first-year coach Frank Baglivo said. “That’s what softball is all about, especially hitting wise. You have to make your adjustments.”

Senior hurler Jenna Scheingold settled down and tossed three straight scoreless innings before running into trouble in the seventh. After leadoff batter Taylor Renny reached base, Julia Renny slugged her second homer of the game to make it 8-5. The Braves went on to load the bases with two outs before Scheingold fanned the last batter on her 140th pitch to seal her fourth win of the season.

“She was kinda losing grip of the ball, she was definitely tired and really battling through,” Baglivo said. “But she’s a fierce competitor and when she needed her biggest out, she was able to get it.” 

The next day, Parise limited the Braves to just one hit – a first-inning double by Julia Renny – to earn her sixth win of 2022. She walked one batter and struck out eight while going the distance.

“When Julia is on, she’s very hard to hit,” Baglivo said. 

Sophomore Melia Campbell drew a bases-loaded walk to put East Meadow up 1-0 in the third inning and Parise drilled an RBI double in the fourth to cap the scoring.

The Jets’ defense made two impressive plays in the sixth inning. Third baseman Kayla Wakely ran in to catch a soft popup for the first out and after a flyout to Campbell in right, second baseman Malia Molina made a running over-the-shoulder grab in first base four territory to end the stanza. 

Syosset put a runner on second base in the fifth inning after an error on a bunt grounder and a wild pitch, but Parise struck out Natalie Socci looking to end the threat. Jets center fielder Grace Pohalski made all three putouts in the seventh, when the Braves again brought the tying run to the plate.