Hewlett edges improved Lawrence

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A spirited Nassau Conference ABC-V/VI crossover softball game between host Hewlett and neighboring Lawrence last Friday afternoon needed extra innings to decide and ended in walk-off fashion. 

Senior Carly Rivlin singled home junior Nicole Ballin in the bottom of the eighth to win it for the Lady Bulldogs, 5-4, after the Lady Golden Tornadoes rallied from a three-run deficit to force extra innings. With one out and runners on second and third, Rivlin hit a long drive to center field that would’ve been a sacrifice fly had it not fallen for the game-winning hit.

“It was a great game,” Hewlett coach Vinnie Lospinuso said. “I’m impressed with Lawrence. We had a decent lead, but they hung tough and battled back. [Emily] DiNardi threw strikes and kept the ball down. We definitely had to earn it.”

DiNardi, a junior, and Hewlett junior hurler Margaret Feldman were solid throughout. Both went the distance. Feldman allowed only four hits, while DiNardi scattered 10 but got some big outs to end threats. “Margaret has thrown well every game,” Lospinuso said. “We really haven’t given her a lot of run support with the exception of a few games.”

Junior leadoff hitter Elysha Maloney went 3-for-4 and drove in a run for the Lady Bulldogs, who upped their ABC-V record to 4-3. Lawrence is 5-3 in ABC-VI under new coach Tom Frawley.

“The kids are starting to respond,” said Frawley, who added assistants Val Perrotta and Pat Frawley have been instrumental in the team’s success. “Emily keeps us in every game and we’re sound defensively.”

Hewlett took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Maloney singled, stole second, went to third on a sac bunt and scored on junior Jamie Goldberg’s single. Lawrence pulled even in the third on sophomore Dalia Silverstein’s RBI, but trailed 4-1 after five innings. Junior Valerie Elefante, the leading hitter for the Lady Bulldogs, had a two-run single in the fourth, giving her 12 RBIs on the year.

Lawrence pulled within one on junior Briana Curra’s hit in the sixth and tied it in the seventh thanks to the aggressiveness of freshman Kayla Notarnitola, who swiped two bags and came around to score on an error. “We’re doing a lot of good things,” Frawley said. “We’ve spent a lot of time on fundamentals. Our defense has been pretty good.”

The game was the third in four days for the Lady Golden Tornadoes, who were coming off a 16-4 victory over Roslyn. They’ve also beaten Westbury, Great Neck North, Roosevelt, and Lynbrook in conference play. Frawley said a 7-1 win over Lynbrook on April 3 is the most exciting so far. “We were losing 1-0 and down to our last strike,” he said of a game extended to extra innings when senior Rachel Golan scored on a passed ball. Lawrence then exploded for six runs in the eighth to win it.

Hewlett has won three of its last four, including a 17-8 triumph over Roslyn that saw Goldberg crack a grand slam.