Girls make their pitch

by Sara Mascitelli Staff Writer

With two conference titles and two trips to the county finals in the last five years, the varsity softball team made another playoff run this year.

After a first round win against Floral Park, however, they lost to Wantagh in the Nassau County Class A quarterfinals, 6-0.

The Lady Colts were the No. 3 seed in the playoffs and defeated No. 14 Floral Park, 16-3, in the first round.

Johanna Esposito pitched five innings for the win. Her 14 strikeouts against Floral Park helped her eclipse 100 strikeouts on the season. She finished with 107 in total.

“We definitely fell short of our goal of getting back to the county finals,” Esposito said, “but I’m proud of the work we did.”

Gianna Nicastro smashed two home runs and had five RBI in the playoff win. Ruth Small went

3-for-4, and Gianna Haniff had three hits. Gia Pisicchio added two hits and three RBI

The team won the Conference II title last season, making it all the way to the county finals where they lost to Mepham. They defeated Wantagh and Island Trees in the playoffs and swept MacArthur in the County semifinals two games to none.

This season the team moved up to face the top teams in Conference I and had a league record of 7-9 and an overall record of 10-12.

“Even though we fell short, we know what we need to do to improve for next season,” said Gianna Lucchi. “We will be ready to take it all next year.”

Esposito was strong on the mound all season. She threw a no-hitter against district rival Mepham in a 4-0 victory.

Not only did Esposito hold the Pirates hitless, but she also did it in extra innings, as the game went into the eighth inning. The bats came alive late in the game for Calhoun. Ava Giuliano had a tworun single, and Small had an RBI double. Lucchi went 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Haniff went 2-for-4. Esposito also pitched a gem against Plainview JFK, striking out nine in a complete game. Lucchi went 2-for-3 and had an RBI, and Giuliano had an RBI double.

The team improved its overall record to 9-10 with a non-league win against Kellenberg on senior day.

Nicastro pitched five innings in the 6-3 win, and Hanniff finished the game to earn the save. Shannon McGuire went 3-for-3, and Ashleigh Coyne knocked in three runs on two hits.

Another key victory against a tough Conference I opponent was a 3-2 win against Plainview. Esposito went 2-for-3 at the plate and struck out nine batters in the complete game win. Lucchi went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Ava Giuliano hit an RBI double.

The county finals will see No. 1 seed MacArthur play against No. 2 seed Clarke High School. Clarke defeated Wantagh two games to none in the semi-finals, and MacArthur swept Kennedy in its semi-final match-up.

MacArthur won the conference title this season with a spotless record of 18-0. Clarke finished with a 9-8 conference record.