Rally lifts Mepham into semis

Senior pitcher Toni Valeriano put an exclamation mark on a sixth-inning rally with a two-run double to lead No. 2 Mepham past No. 10 Baldwin, 5-1, last Saturday morning in a Nassau Class AA softball quarterfinal playoff game. Her hit, the last in a rally that included four singles and a walk, scored senior Cristina Rizzacasa and Ashley Boscarino

“[Mel Sadowski] wasn’t pitching as fast as the pitches we normally see and we were all off stride,” Mepham coach Mike Muscara said. “We finally got to her.”

Mepham (12-4) advanced to the best-of-three semifinal round against No. 3 Oceanside with the third game, if necessary, scheduled for Friday afternoon.

The Lady Pirates’ rally from a one-run deficit started when No. 7 hitter junior Nicole Moccio led off with a single to center. Junior Alex Morris followed with a bunt single with Moccio advancing all the way to third. With Boscarino at the plate, Morris stole second and Moccio raced home with the tying run on the throw. A single by Boscarino, the No. 9 hitter, drove in Morris with the go-ahead run. “Just because you’re hitting at the bottom of the lineup doesn’t mean you can’t hit,” Muscara said, noting his order’s depth from top to bottom.

Despite having baserunners thrown out at second in the first and fourth innings by Baldwin catcher Melissa Messina, Muscara continued to keep his runners aggressive. Rizzacasa beat out an infield hit to shortstop, and Boscarino took third base on a wild pitch with junior Katie Grodski at the plate. Grodski walked and later came around to score on a walk to Moccio. Standing on third, Grodski broke for home when Stef Warner struck out on a pitch in the dirt, but rather than go for the out at first, Messina ended up running Grodski back to the bag with the Mepham junior sliding safely under the tag.

“In a game like that [1-0] it’s a tight game but you’ve got to take off and put pressure on the defense and it worked,” Muscara said.

Valeriano, the reining Nassau County Class AA Pitcher of the Year, was locked in a pitcher’s duel with Lady Bruins junior Sadowski through five innings, and finished with 12 strikeouts, while allowing just five hits. During one stretch covering the second and third innings she struck out five straight Baldwin hitters. “The key to [our success] is Toni’s pitching and us getting some hits,” Muscara said. “It’s a testament to the kids that they didn’t give up.”

Baldwin broke through for its only run in the top of the sixth, when No. 3 hitter Jess Pulis doubled to the gap in left-center field and came around to score when cleanup hitter Alex Burns singled up the middle. “We had the No. 2 seed on the ropes,” Baldwin coach Tom Llewellyn said, of his team, which upset No. 7 Calhoun to advance to the second round. “We were not a typical No. 10 seed.”