Offense has Lady Rocks rolling

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The hits—and runs—keep coming for East Rockaway’s softball team, which won its sixth consecutive game, 16-8, at Sewanhaka on April 15 to remain in the driver’s seat in Conference AB-III.

Junior Caitlin O’Mara went 4-for-6 with three RBIs and a run scored, and eighth-grader Emily Chelius went 3-for-4 and scored three runs to lead the offense for the Lady Rocks, who improved to 7-1 and scored double digits in runs for the seventh time this spring. Junior pitcher Kelly McLafferty allowed just one run and struck out four.

“Offense has been the theme,” East Rockaway coach Joe Lores said. “We’ve been hitting the ball very well. We haven’t done anything beyond our usual drills. I knew we could hit, but not at this level.

“We have a lot of three-sport athletes on the team,” he added. “I’ve always felt that to be pretty important because it keeps the kids competitive year-round.

Through eight games, the Lady Rocks were hitting at a .470 clip and hadn’t been caught stealing on 44 attempts. junior centerfielder Erica Acampora set the pace with a sizzling .640 average, going 16-for-25 with two homers and 16 runs scored. Six others were at .500 or better, including sophomore Diana Locoteta (.548) who provided the heroics in a wild 12-11 victory over Valley Stream North to close out March.

Locoteta, who leads the team in RBIs with 18, had a walk-off single to score pinch-runner freshman Rachel O’Hagan in the bottom of the seventh to beat North, which rallied to take the lead in the top of the inning on a grand slam off the bat of Sam Estupinian. East Rockaway, which trailed 5-0 early, got a leadoff triple from O’Mara to open the home half of the seventh. After a walk, junior Sydney O’Connor, who had a three-run blast in the third to get the Lady Rocks on the board, singled home O’Mara with the tying run.

“It was one of those wild back-and-forth games,” said Lores, who noted he’s looking forward to the rematch with North this Saturday at 10 a.m.

East Rockaway used a six-run rally in the sixth to beat Carle Place on April 13, 11-5, making a winner of sophomore pitcher Corinne Haab. Chelius, who also pitches, singled and scored the eventual winning run on a bases-loaded walk to junior catcher Marisa Felbinger. Acamora, who had four RBIs, drove in two in the inning with a triple. Haab, who pitched every inning a year ago, struck out six.

Lores said he plans to continue to rotate McLafferty, Haab and Chelius in the circle. Felbinger, the team’s leadoff hitter who’s batting .500, is doing a solid job of handling the trio and blocking pitches in the dirt, the coach said. Haab and Chelius also split time at third base.

“They’re becoming more effective and have cut down on walks,” Lores said of the pitchers. “A lot of the inconsistency came earlier in the year.”