Coach Michael Pisano was more than happy to fulfill a promise he made to Calhoun’s softball players back in March.
“I told them I’d shave my head if we won the county championship,” he said.
On Monday night at Farmingdale State College, the top-seeded Colts took out the broom on No. 3 MacArthur, completing a sweep of the best-of-three Nassau Class AA finals with a 7-4 victory, and then broke out the buzzer on Pisano to cap the celebration of the first county title in program history.
“It feels absolutely amazing, just unbelievable,” Calhoun sophomore center fielder Megan Hobdy said. “To see that last out happen, I just threw my glove as high as I could in the air and ran as fast as I could to celebrate with my teammates. We’re such a close-knit team. I’m so happy we made history and get to keep playing.”
The Colts (15-12) will face defending champion East Islip (16-5) for the Long Island Class AA crown this Saturday at Martha Avenue Field in Bellport at 2 p.m.
“We’ve been waiting all season for this moment and it’s really exciting,” said sophomore pitcher Sophia Nicastro, who struck out five and helped her own cause with an RBI triple and two runs scored. “MacArthur’s a tough team and we didn’t want to get too ahead of ourselves,” she added. “That last inning, I just took a deep breath and locked in.”
The Colts, who won Sunday’s series opener, 4-2, behind Nicastro’s nine strikeouts, trailed 1-0 in Game 2 before scoring three times in the top of the third. They never relinquished the lead.
Senior Ruth Small, who scored two runs, reached on an error with one out and scored on Nicastro’s triple. Senior Katelyn DiPaola followed with an RBI single for a 2-1 lead and later scored on junior Madison Martins single.
“We brought the energy and kept it up the whole game,” Martins said. “We really wanted to win tonight.”
After the Generals cut the margin in half on pitcher Olivia Macken’s RBI single in the bottom of the inning, the Colts pushed across two more in the top of the fourth to lead 5-2. Martins and eighth-grader Selma Redoncic had the RBIs.
It was 6-2 in the sixth when MacArthur, which knocked off second-seeded Mepham in the semifinals, responded with Ashley Powers’ two-run triple to slice the lead in half once again.
But Calhoun, which beat No. 5 Bethpage in the semis, provided Nicastro additional breathing room with an insurance run in the seventh as Martins reached on an error with one out and scored on sophomore Adriana Kayantas’ two-out single.
“This is tremendous for the entire community,” Pisano said. “I’m so proud of these girls. What makes this group so special is the diversity they bring between the grades and personalities. It’s really awesome.”
