VSS contending for top spot

By toNY Bellissimo tbellissimo@liherald.com

Led by its senior battery of catcher Trinity Smiley and pitcher Sarah Rizzo, Valley Stream South is among the frontrunners in Nassau Conference 6 softball as the season turns for home.

The Falcons won their first eight out of the gate before a mistake-filled 19-10 loss to Lawrence on April 26 put a notch in the loss column.

JUlia paRise

East Meadow Junior Softball paRise aND the Jets have their sights set on the Nassau Class AA championship after finishing runners-up last spring. Parise was Honorable Mention

All-County as a sophomore pitcher in 2022 and appears to be peaking at the right time as East Meadow makes its push. Over a four-game stretch between April 15-22, she posted three shutouts and struck out at least 10 opponents three times, lowering her ERA to 0.91.

Games To Watch

thursday, may 4

Baseball: Hewlett at V.S. North 4:30 p.m.

Baseball: Floral Park at Carey 4:30 p.m.

Softball: Freeport at North Shore 4:30 p.m.

Baseball: Mineola at Clarke 4:45 p.m.

Baseball: East Meadow at Oceanside 5 p.m.

Baseball: MacArthur at Calhoun 5 p.m.

Baseball: Lawrence at Elmont 5 p.m.

Baseball: Roslyn at South Side 5 p.m.

Baseball: Sewanhaka at Kennedy 5 p.m.

Baseball: Wantagh at North Shore 5 p.m.

Baseball: West Hempstead at V.S. South 5 p.m.

Girls Lacrosse: Lynbrook at Oceanside 5 p.m.

Friday, may 5

Boys Lacrosse: Carey at Malverne/East Rock 5 p.m.

Boys Lacrosse: Long Beach at Lynbrook 5 p.m.

Girls Lacrosse: Long Beach at South Side 5 p.m.

Girls Lacrosse: Wantagh at Massapequa 5 p.m.

Softball: Oceanside at East Meadow 5 p.m.

Softball: Malverne at V.S. Central 5 p.m.

Softball: Wantagh at Herricks 5 p.m.

Softball: Island Trees at Seaford 5 p.m.

Softball: Roosevelt at V.S. South 5 p.m.

Softball: Calhoun at Clarke 5 p.m.

Flag Football: West Hempstead at Long Beach 7 p.m.

“We’ve been putting up big offensive numbers but this time it wasn’t enough,” VSS coach Demetri Adrahtas said. “If you play sloppy, it’s going to come back and bite you. We made a ton of errors and Lawrence played a really strong game. They were error free until the next-to-last play. We’ll use it as a teaching moment and look to bounce back.”

It’s shaping up to be a four-team race for the conference title between the Falcons, Elmont, Lawrence and Malverne. None of the other six teams in the conference are above .500 heading into this week’s action. Elmont is undefeated but has played the fewest games.

“We have to resume a suspended game against Elmont where we’re behind 7-5,” Adrahtas noted. “Then we have the regularly scheduled game against them. We have to at least split those to stay in decent shape in the race.”

In each of its first eight games, South produced a minimum of 12 runs while allowing an average of 4.

Smiley ranks among Nassau’s leader in home runs with five and putting up AllCounty type numbers following a pair of All-Conference campaigns and an Honorable Mention All-County. She’s in her sixth varsity season as the starting catcher and looking to play at the next level, Adrahtas said. “She’s one of the better catchers on Long Island,” the coach said. “Her defense is ridiculous. Teams haven’t even tried to run on her this season. Last year she had multiple innings picking runners off base.”

Rizzo isn’t a pitcher by trade but moved from first base for the benefit of the team, Adrahtas explained, and stepped up. She no-hit Valley Stream Cen- tral and struck out 12 in the second game of the year. “Sarah pitched a few innings here and there in previous years, but she’s an elite first baseman and a very good hitter,” he said. “She throws hard and answered the call for us.”

The top five in South’s lineup, which includes Smiley in the 2-hole and Rizzo third, leads the attack. Smiley hit for the cycle April 13 against Roosevelt to back the relief pitching of senior Melissa Contreras, who earned the W.

Eighth-grader Julia Candelario, a returning starter who moved from third base to shortstop, is doing a tremendous job in the leadoff spot, Adrahtas said.

Senior Christina Barkolas (right field) hits clean-up, followed by junior Kaleilah Martin fifth. Barkolas leads the team in RBIs and Martin leads the way in batting average at .600.

Senior Olivia Lane (third base) is heating up at the plate as well and recently blasted a homer with nine RBIs against Hempstead. Senior Alexee Peets (left field) provides speed and is a gap hitter, while sophomores Tatiana Rosello (primarily in center field) and Dayanara Rodriguez (second base) are making firstyear varsity impressions. Rosello had four RBIs April 20 in a 19-7 win over Friends Academy.