South Side rallies past VSS

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Erin Dooney’s infield single scored pinch-runner Alexa Fingleton with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning to cap South Side’s wild come-from-behind 9-8 victory over Valley Stream South in a Nassau Conference ABC-III softball game last Friday.

The Lady Cyclones, who trailed 6-0 early, scored seven runs over their last three innings at the plate to complete a perfect three-win week while snapping the Lady Falcons’ four-game winning streak. Dooney, a junior, went 3-for-3 and scored three times, including on senior Katelin Benincasa’s game-tying bases-loaded triple in the fifth, and freshman pitcher Morgan Gilligan allowed just three hits over the last five innings and struck out 13.

“It was an awesome comeback,” coach Kristen Aksionoff said after South Side improved to 4-3 in conference play and avenged a walk-off loss in the opener. “They’re notorious for coming up big in the seventh inning, which is what happened the first time we played,” she added. “I’m glad we were able to push through and persevere today.”

South (6-2) got three RBIs from senior catcher Manalli Inniss and seven strikeouts from eighth-grade pitcher Isabella Secaira-Cotto, who also went 2-for-4 and drove in a run.

“We were playing really good ball until today; we’ve had some exciting wins,” Lady Falcons coach Demetri Adrahtas said. “Even though we got out to a big lead, we left a bunch of runners on base early that in the end made a difference.”

Senior shortstop Briana Schippell, who’s seeking a fourth straight All-County campaign and had the winning hit in the first meeting between the teams, opened the scoring with a single in the top of the first and later scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.

After Secaira-Cotto struck out the side in the bottom of the first, the Lady Falcons pushed across three runs in the top of the second, all with two outs, including a pair on a single by Inniss. “Morgan being a young pitcher, it’s hard to battle back from the first two innings but she’s a mentally and physically strong athlete,” Aksionoff said. “She knows how to battle. She really hung in there.”

South Side, which defeated Manhasset and Wheatley earlier last week behind the pitching of sophomore Emma Wagner, scored twice in the second and three times in the fourth to get within 6-5. Then, after senior Katie Shields’ long two-run homer to center in the fifth put Valley Stream ahead 8-5, the Lady Cyclones loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom half of the inning and tied it on Benincasa’s liner down the right-field line  

“We didn’t use the same order any game this week, but something just clicked with our lineup,” Aksionoff said.

Gilligan stranded two runners in the sixth and closed in style by striking out the side in the seventh to win a game featuring a pair of talented young arms.

“Isabella’s doing a great job,” Adrahtas said. “She fights through situations, which is something their pitcher also did today.”