Long Beach topped by Mepham

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Four-run outbursts in the bottom of the first and fourth innings and strong pitching by senior Tonimarie Valeriano last Friday afternoon propelled Mepham to a 9-1 softball victory over visiting Long Beach in a Conference AA-I/II crossover game.

Valeriano allowed only two hits, walked one and struck out 15 as the Lady Pirates upped their win streak to four games following three losses to begin conference play. Junior Rachel Brenner drove in the lone run for the Lady Marines (3-5) with a single in the fourth. Mepham freshman Sam Arcese knocked in three runs, while senior leadoff batter senior Christine Rizzacasa singled, doubled and tripled and scored twice

“We’re scoring more runs lately and Toni’s pitching really well,” Mepham coach Mike Muscara said. “I’ve always said we’re a warm-weather team.”

The Lady Pirates (6-3) came out swinging against Long Beach senior pitcher Heather Weinstein, who was coming off a solid performance days earlier in a win over Massapequa. Rizzacasa led off the game with a double to left-center and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Valeriano (3-for-4) then hit a blast that one-hopped the fence in left for a run-scoring double. Nicole Aliberti singled home Valeriano, and took third on senior Amanda Fucci’s double. Arcese capped the early rally by doubling home Aliberti and Fucci.

“Being shorthanded with some injuries, we had to play almost a perfect game against a top team like Mepham,” Long Beach coach Carmine Verde said. “They jumped on us early.”

The Lady Marines, who are missing senior center fielder Julianna Zaharias (wrist) and senior infielder Jamie Morgenstern (knee), did all of their damage against Valeriano in the fourth. Senior Brianna Rivera got their first hit of the day with a sharp single to right and advanced to second on an error. Pinch-runner Kirsthie Rodriguez, a sophomore, took third on a passed ball and came around to score on Brenner’s liner up the middle.

“The girls in the middle of the order are hitting the ball really well,” Verde said of junior Kelsey Larson, Rivera, Weinstein and Brenner. “We need to keep improving defensively.”

Long Beach was coming off wins in two of its previous three conference games. Rivera and Brenner had run-scoring singles and the defense played error-free behind Weinstein, who knocked in a run with a triple, in a 5-2 win over Massapequa on April 9. Weinstein scattered 10 hits and struck out seven. “Heather’s screwball was working and they were whiffing at it,” Verde said. “She worked out of a bunch of jams.”

Weinstein starred in a 10-5 win over Baldwin on April 3. She got the win in the circle and helped her own cause in a big way at the dish by going 4-for-4 (homer, two doubles and a single) and driving in three runs.

“Hopefully we’ll have everyone back in a week,” Verde said. “Based on what we’ve shown so far, we should be in the playoffs and get the 8, 9 or 10 seed.”