Sports

Solid Pitching, Timely Hitting Lead Lions

West Islip tops Smithtown East 3-1 for 10th win of the season.

Looking to bounce back from three loses over its past four games, the West Islip softball team got a strong pitching performance from junior Alyssa Monteverde and some timely hitting to defeat Smithtown East 3-1 Wednesday at the high school.

Coming off a tough 1-0 loss to Riverhead on Tuesday, Lions head coach Michelle Jantzen said her team had to “throw that game away mentally and come back today.”

Against Smithtown East, Monteverde was again on her game and the Lions provided just enough offense to secure the victory.

Tied at 1 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, Haley Westerberg led off with a single and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Marisa Motisi would drive in Westerberg to give West Islip a 2-1 lead and a bases loaded walk later in the inning to Gabrielle Cinquemani would extend the lead to 3-1.

In the top of the fifth, Smithtown East sought to stage a comeback but Monteverde wiggled out of trouble as the Bulls left the bases loaded.

The win moved West Islip to 10-4 in League III while Smithtown East fell to 7-7.

As the regular season begins to wind down, the Lions have five games remaining; two at home, North Babylon and Whitman; and three on the road, Smithtown West, Newfield and Centereach.

“Right now we are scoring a few less runs than the beginning of the season, but defensively we are a lot better,” Jantzen said of her team.

While she was quick to note that there are still “big games” to be played in the regular season, Jantzen feels West Islip has a shot to win the League III championship. The title, if won, would be the first for the softball team in the five years she has served as head coach.


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