Oceanside coasts past Baldwin

Oceanside took advantage of several scoring opportunities during the first two innings of its Nassau County Conference AA-II softball game against Baldwin last Saturday, scoring a total of nine runs on the way to a 10-1 victory. 

Lady Sailors juniors Jessica Kambic and Sydne Jacob each had two-run singles in the six-run second, while sophomore Deanna Viola drove in junior Jess Panzarino with a triple to open the scoring just two batters into the game.

"We wanted to try and get some confidence going [heading] into the playoffs," Oceanside coach Alyson Lamonte said. "All the way through [the lineup] we hit. We had a lot of RBIs from the middle through the bottom."

The Lady Sailors knocked off the Lady Bruins for the second time in three days with plenty of help from freshman Kristen Gallub and sophomore Ashley Davis in the circle. The two allowed just four hits and combined for nine strikeouts, holding Baldwin off the scoreboard until the sixth inning. "They definitely pitched well and hit their spots," Lamonte said.

Gallub allowed just two singles in three innings, struck out three and did not walk a batter. Davis allowed just two hits in four innings, both to Baldwin's senior shortstop Ashley Ainbinder, and struck out six. The second hit by Ainbinder plated senior Arielle Cummings with the Lady Bruins' only run.

"Ashley's a five-year starter," Baldwin coach Tom Llewellyn said of Ainbinder, who's headed to Hofstra on a scholarship to play softball. "She's a hard worker. She's the first one [at practice] and the last one to leave."

While Ainbinder's career comes to a close, one of the Lady Bruins that's just getting started is freshman Carly Mertens. After seeing three games in the circle earlier in the season and some spot time in the outfield, Mertens went the distance against Oceanside. After the rocky first two innings, in which the defense struggled, Mertens stood strong and allowed just one more run the rest of the way.

"She's worked very hard and improved a lot over the year," Llewellyn said of Mertens, who allowed just two hits between the third and six innings.

Even the Baldwin defense made a pair of spectacular plays to limit Oceanside to just a single run in the sixth. Senior catcher Sam Vanti threw out a runner trying to steal second for the first out, and senior second baseman Jasmine Abreu made a diving stop of a hard grounder by Davis to end the threat. "To finish like that is good for the seniors and it's good for the underclassmen," Llewellyn said.

While the Lady Sailors were locked into a playoff opener against Massapequa this Friday, the Lady Bruins' hopes hinged on the outcome of the Conference AA-II season based on the rules of the postseason. Baldwin ended up the No. 12 seed and will visit No. 5 Mepham.

Oceanside won a 5-1 decision over Baldwin last Thursday with junior Allison Hart getting the win and outdueling Ainbinder.