East Meadow blasts way to finals

On three consecutive fourth-inning pitches, East Meadow senior Samantha Miller, sophomore Danielle Cutuli and senior Jaime Laird generated in order, a home run, a single and a home run that plated four runs and opened up a five-run lead on top-seeded MacArthur in the semifinals of the Nassau County Class AA softball playoffs at Mitchel Field May 19.

The Lady Jets staved off a pair of rallies by the Lady Generals in the 9-6 semifinal victory and now have an opportunity to defend the County title they won last season.

“It was like a rally,” coach Cindy McCarthy said of the two-out surge which came with East Meadow holding a one-run lead. “One girl got it started and then everyone else wanted to participate.”

The Lady Jets (10-6) advanced to the best-of-three championship series against No. 2 Farmingdale.

MacArthur answered East Meadow’s fourth inning outburst by plating four runs when its first five batters of the frame reached base on four hits and a walk. East Meadow’s Kerri Shapiro, however, rebounded to strike out three straight batters to end the rally. “For a freshman she has such confidence and poise,” McCarthy said. “She’s just a game player, ready to go and focused.”

Shapiro went the distance, scattering eight hits with three walks and eight strkeouts. Miller, who finished 3-for-5 with three runs scored and three runs batted in, blasted a two-run homer on the first pitch she saw from Lady Generals pitcher Kristen Brown in the fourth that also plated junior Becky Syers. In the fifth, Miller added another RBI on a high fly to shallow centerfield that barely cleared the edge of the infield and dropped just in front of diving centerfielder Hayley Miles. Miller also scored the first run of the game, beating a throw to the plate in the first inning on sophomore Taylor Conti’s bases-loaded grounder to Lady Generals shortstop Jen Cozza.