South Side holding its own

Behind senior All-County pitcher Sam Maselli, South Side is holding its own against some of the best competition Nassau County softball has to offer.

The Lady Cyclones, who had their only game scheduled during spring break wiped out by more lousy weather, took a 3-6 Conference ABC-II record into this week’s action. Half of their losses are by three runs or fewer.

“A lot of the games have been really close,” coach Shannon McEntee said. “Sam is doing a phenomenal job. She’s the main reason we’re in this conference, and she’s keeping us in every game. Only one game hasn’t been close.

“The girls are very happy with the wins they’ve been able to get,” she added. “They realize crossing over against Conference I is the toughest part.”

Included in their past three games against teams from the top conference, South Side lost 3-2 at New Hyde Park in nine innings, and 2-0 at Clarke. New Hyde Park won it on a Geena Fornataro single, and Clarke’s Sarah Cornell had a no-hitter. Maselli struck out seven and 10, respectively, in the two narrow defeats.

“We need to hit a little bit more,” McEntee said. “That would help us get a bigger cushion in the games we’re already leading and make the other games closer or put us over the top.”

Maselli allowed a total of one run in South Side’s three victories, the most recent coming April 5 at Seaford when she escaped a bases-loaded jam with none out in the bottom of the seventh to secure a 2-0 win. “It was a little crazy, but pretty exciting the way it ended,” McEntee said. “We misplayed a couple of bunts to help them load the bases, but Sam struck out the last three batters.” Maselli allowed five hits and fanned 10. Junior catcher Lia Stamile doubled home run in the first, then singled and scored on a Maselli double in the fourth.

Three days earlier, Maselli flirted with the second perfect game of her career but settled for a one-hitter in a 3-0 win over Oyster Bay. She allowed just a leadoff bunt single in the top of the seventh on a close call at first base, McEntee said, and struck out a season-high 14. The Lady Cyclones scored once in the first, fifth and sixth. Sophomore Victoria Boldis, Maselli and senior Brittany Baez drove in runs. 

McEntee said South Side’s first win of 2014 was memorable. It came March 26 in blustery conditions at Kennedy. “The weather was atrocious,” she said. “It was so windy and cold, the umpires stopped it after five innings.” All the runs came in the fifth of a 4-1 triumph. Junior Sarah Buckley smacked a two-run triple, and junior Tara O’Leary added a two-run single. Maselli, who has 74 strikeouts on the year, whiffed 10.      

Last week’s cancellation gives the Lady Cyclones four games in a five-day span this week, culminating with the makeup date against visiting Plainedge this Friday at 4:30 p.m.