Carey starting to hit stride

The slow transition from winter to spring was appropriate for the Carey softball team. After three consecutive trips to the county finals, the Lady Seahawks had to undergo a transformation of their own, which included revamping their pitching staff and welcoming some new faces in the lineup.

Like the warm weather, it took a little time for Carey to come around in 2017. The Lady Seahawks dropped two games to open the season, the first time they’ve lost consecutive games in the regular season since 2013, but have rebounded to win seven of their last eight.

After last Saturday’s 4-3 win at Plainedge, Carey is 7-3 overall (6-3 in Nassau Conference ABC-1.) Senior Megan McCormack tripled and scored the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth inning. Brianna Pinto was 3-for-4 with a triple. Junior pitcher Dana Romano earned the win.

The victory came less than 24 hours after the team suffered an 11-1 loss to league-leading MacArthur. Junior Jess Budrewicz scattered four hits and struck out 11 to pick up the win. Senior Shannon Myles was 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI and three runs scored to lead the Lady Generals.

Carey head coach Anthony Turco believes his team is hitting its stride. “We’re slowly finding our identity as team,” Turco said. “We’re different than we’ve been in the past. We don’t have a dominant pitcher who can blow the ball passed hitters. So, the defense has to be alert on every pitch. The team is starting to become the total package. The girls believe they can return to the finals again.”

Despite not having a girl in the circle who’s going to register a slew of strikeouts, Turco is high on Romano, who has shown tremendous poise, and a knack for keeping hitters off-balance. She leads the staff with four wins. Sophomore Julia Riccobono has three wins.

Pinto has been as good as advertised at the top of the Carey order. The Fordham-bound senior is seemingly on base three or four times a game, and she almost always comes around to score. Pinto is terrific at playing small ball, but also has shown power with a pair of homers.

Since moving to the two-hole, Jaclyn Rodriguez has been a masher. The senior catcher has had numerous multiple-hit games, and was one of five Carey players to go deep in a 16-6 victory when Clarke came to town. Pinto, McCormack, Frankie Cirone, and Olivia Krevatas all added home runs. 

Krevatas’s long ball was a grand slam that was the highlight of a six-run first inning. Turco called McCormack’s bomb to left-center the farthest ball he’s ever seen a Carey player hit. McCormack leads the team with four round-trippers. Junior Marissa Nicoletti has been solid at the plate hitting third. Nicoletti homered in the win over Plainedge.

The Lady Seahawks will be back in action when they travel to Kennedy this Friday at 5 p.m.