East Meadow nips Long Beach for crown

Just like the first two games of the Nassau Class AA softball championship series, last Friday’s finale between top-seeded East Meadow and No. 3 Long Beach at Mitchel Athletic Complex came down to the last pitch.

Clinging to a two-run lead in the top of the seventh inning with the tying runs on base and no outs, East Meadow coach Stew Fritz called on Christina Loeffler to shut the door, and the junior delivered. Loeffler recorded the final three outs, including the last two with runners on second and third, and the Lady Jets claimed the county title with a 3-1 victory.

“It was an incredible series,” Fritz said. “Every game was in question right down to the last pitch. I’m sure it was fun for everyone standing outside the fences.” 

The final out, a screaming grounder off the bat of Long Beach junior Colleen Mannle, skipped into the glove of junior Emily Shurina a step away from first base. Loeffler, who earned the win in the series opener and took the loss in Game 2, recorded a key strikeout for the second out on the way to saving the victory for senior Kelsey Leonard. The Lady Marines opened the seventh with a single by sophomore Megan Korotz and a walk to junior Taylor Haines.

“Kelsey pitched great, and I was ready to come in and finish it off,” said Loeffler, who ripped her Nassau-leading ninth homer of the year in the bottom of the third to cap the scoring. “We always pick each other up,” she added. “We’ve been waiting three years for this, and it’s so exciting.”

It’s the third county championship in five years for the Lady Jets (19-3), who won back-to-back crowns in 2013 and 2014. They’ll face East Islip in the Long Island Class AA title game this Friday at St. Joseph’s College in Patchogue at 6:30 p.m. Long Beach, which handed East Meadow two of its losses, finished 14-9.

“Our girls gave their all,” Lady Marines coach Carmine Verde said. “It was a phenomenal series. After losing the first game 1-0, we came back the next day with a much more aggressive approach at the plate and held on to win 8-6.

“Hitting is contagious, but we didn’t have as many rallies today,” he added. “But we battled and had chances to tie it. I couldn’t ask for more, and I’m proud of how we played.”

Long Beach took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a throwing error while getting a hit apiece off Leonard and Loeffler. Fritz gave Leonard her first start of the series and brought Loeffler in to pitch in the first and third innings so she qualified for a courtesy runner. “The strategy was only in case we needed a runner for Christina,” Fritz explained.

East Meadow scored twice in the second against Long Beach senior hurler Tonianne Larson, who struck out 17 in the series and also starred at the plate in Game 2 on May 24 with a single, double, triple, two runs and two RBIs. Freshman Julianna Sanzone hit a leadoff triple and scored on the back end of a double steal to tie it. Junior Sam Reyes reached on a hit-by-pitch, stole second, went to third on a long fly to right by Shurina, and scored the go-ahead run on an error.

A courtesy jogger would’ve come in handy in the third when Loeffler crushed a line drive over the fence in right-center. Larson stranded the bases loaded in the fourth with two huge strikeouts, but East Meadow’s offense had already done enough to back the Leonard-Loeffler combination.

“It’s a luxury to have two No. 1 pitchers,” Fritz said.