South Side reaches playoffs

After avenging defeats to three Conference ABC-II softball rivals over the second half of the campaign to finish atop the standings, young and talented Seaford continued its surge with a 6-2 home victory over South Side in a Nassau Class A first-round playoff game last Friday.

Pitcher Sophie Dandola led the way for the seventh-seeded Lady Vikings (12-7), who scored three runs in the second inning, two in the third, and one in the fifth. The 10th-seeded Lady Cyclones (5-12) got both of their runs in the sixth. Dandola, a freshman who alternates games with sophomore Ashley Casazza, allowed five hits and struck out a career-high 14. Jessica Fischetti homered, tripled and singled, and Erin Russell and Danielle DiNapoli drove in two runs apiece.

“We’ve just gotten better and better,” Seaford coach Rob Perpall said. “I’m so proud of these girls. They’ve worked really hard and improved in every area — hitting, fielding and pitching.

“To come away with the conference title is a great reward, and we want to go as far as we can, but we also want to build for the future,” he added.

South Side, which split regular-season meetings with Seaford after climbing the conference ladder for a third straight year, had the only senior on the field in the matchup. Pitcher Sam Maselli picked up two strikeouts, giving her 491 in her career, and also singled and scored. “We beat a very good pitcher,” Perpall said of the Mercy bound Maselli.

“Sam’s had a great career here,” Lady Cyclones coach Shannon McEntee said. “She has matured and grown so much. She’s been a two-year captain and a great leader. All the girls looked up to her.”

Maselli was one strike away from getting out of the second inning down just a run after Fischetti’s homer, but Russell singled home Cariddi and Secondino to make it 3-0. A varsity newcomer, Russell, a sophomore shortstop, is Seaford’s leading hitter with a .560 mark, Perpall noted.

The Lady Vikings upped their lead to 5-0 in the third when Fischetti tripled with one out and scored on Alexa DiCapuo’s single. With two outs, DiNapoli singled home DiCapuo, a .450 hitter.

South Side’s first hit against Dandola came on a nifty bunt by Victoria Boldis to start the fourth. Boldis was left stranded at third but began her team’s rally in the sixth with another leadoff bunt single. After Maselli singled, Stamile knocked in Boldis with a single off Dandola’s glove. Freshman Erin Dooney, who had a strong game in right field making several tough grabs, singled in Maselli.

“That’s been our pattern for the last couple of games,” McEntee said of getting the bats going late. “Last week, Oyster Bay had a pretty good lead on us and we chopped away at it. I like the fight we showed.”

Dandola, who struck out the side in the second and third, fanned the last two batters she faced to punch Seaford’s ticket to the quarterfinals.