South Side tops West Hempstead

With one swing of the bat, South Side’s Katelin Benincasa put an end to a pitchers’ duel between freshman teammate Emma Wagner and West Hempstead’s Briana White.

Benincasa’s two-run double in the top of the fifth inning broke a scoreless tie and sent the Lady Cyclones on their way to a 5-1 road victory in a Conference AB-III softball game on April 15. She and freshman Stephanie Masotti scored on senior Hannah Festa’s single that capped a four-run outburst.

Wagner scattered five hits and three walks and struck out five, while White yielded eight hits, three walks and fanned two.

“It’s a nice win for us,” first-year coach Kristen Aksionoff said after South Side upped its record to 2-4. “We broke through with some big hits and Emma pitched a strong game,” she added. “She’s grown a lot as far as her control goes. She’s improving every day and gaining more confidence.”

Wagner took a shutout into the bottom of the sixth when the Lady Rams engineered their biggest threat. White had a leadoff single and advanced to second on sophomore Maria Graci’s single. After two outfield flyouts, the hosts got on the board after a bases-loaded walk to sophomore Kelsey Reichert brought White home. Wagner then recorded a strikeout to end the rally.

“We’re underachieving, and he lack of timely hits is our biggest problem,” West Hempstead coach Chris Van Kovics said. “Early in the year we were putting three or four good at-bats together and scoring runs. We haven’t been able to do that lately.”

The Lady Rams (1-5) squandered an opportunity to take the lead in the fourth. Senior Amanda Malone led off with a single but was forced out at second on an outfield throw from Benincasa after White muscled a pitch into right-center. A single by senior Nicole Fodera (2-for-3) and a walk to senior Penelope Sanchez loaded the bases, but Wagner ended the inning by getting a grounder to sophomore Maddie Ajello at second.

“I thought we played solid defensively,” said Aksionoff, who was without All-County catcher Lia Stamile due to illness but had junior Victoria Boldis come up big behind the plate. “We didn’t really give them any extra outs.”