Baseball: Unbeaten West sweeps Centereach; East wins four with a no-hitter
The Smithtown West baseball team may be scoring seven runs a game, but coach Al Nucci said the key to the Bulls’ 11-0 record has been their pitching.
“Unbelievable pitching,” Nucci said. “The pitching has been excellent all year.”
West, in first place in League III at 9-0, swept Newfield this week, beginning with a 17-1 thumping on Tuesday. James English won his fourth game of the season, striking out nine and allowing just two hits. The Bulls piled up 19 hits in the game, three by Nick Dellasperanza, who also drove in three. Matt Martin and Nick Zito each had two hits.
West won game two on Wednesday, 9-1, as junior Doug Zhong improved to 3-0. Zhong allowed six hits and struck out five in 6 2/3 innings. Anthony Gatto homered and Zito had two hits and two RBI.
West blanked Newfield 4-0 on Friday to complete the sweep behind Gatto’s six shutout innings. Gatto allowed just two hits and struck out nine for his second win. Zito, who is also 2-0, pitched a perfect seventh.
“Offense is going to come and go, but our pitching has been consistent and, knock on wood, basically unhittable,” Nucci said. “When you get pitching like that at the high school level, you’re going to be tough to beat.”
West faces Centereach this week and second-place West Islip next week. West Islip meets third-place Smithtown East this week.
East rolled up four victories this past week, three against Centereach, to improve to 6-6 in league play. The biggest win came Thursday as Justin Cusano tossed a no-hitter for his first varsity win. Cusano, a junior, walked one and struck out three in the 3-0 win.
East opened with a 16-2 win on Tuesday, getting four hits and five RBI from Christian Vetter, and four hits and three RBI from Alex Indelicato, making a winning pitcher of Kenny Anello. East completed the series sweep Friday with a 7-2 win. Dan Walsh was the winning pitcher.
East capped the week with a 3-2 win Saturday over Newfield in a make-up game. Ryan Craig earned his first varsity win with a complete game. Will Bennett’s two-out single in the sixth scored the game-winning run.
Softball: West and East are both perfect
West went 4-0 this week to improve to 9-2 in conference play, capped by a 6-3 win Friday over Riverhead. Winning pitcher Catherine Heacox had two hits, as did Kayla McCoy. West edged North Babylon on Wednesday, 6-4. Heacox singled in the go-ahead run in the ninth for her third hit of the game, giving the win to reliever Melissa Koster, who threw three scoreless innings.
West blanked Comsewogue on Tuesday, 14-0, with home runs by Gianna Gatto and Teresa Staiano. Emily Horman added two doubles and three RBI, and Koster picked up the victory. West began the winning week with a 7-6 win Monday over Centereach. Heacox and McCoy each homered. Heacox had three hits and was the winning pitcher.
Smithtown East won both its games this week by wide margins to improve to 6-4 in conference, topped by a 14-0 win over Copiague on Wednesday that featured a five-inning no-hitter by pitcher Samantha Moss. Moss struck out six and walked two. Mackenzie Buckley had three hits, three runs and three runs batted in.
East defeated Bellport on Tuesday, 13-4, getting four hits and four runs from Fran Busa. Mackenzie Buckley had three hits and three RBI while Maggie Engellenner added three hits and two RBI to give Corinne Vazac the win.
Girls Lacrosse: East goes 3-0; West takes two
Smithtown East won three game this week, improving to 4-5 in Division I, capped by a 7-6 thriller Friday over Lindenhurst. Marissa Grennan scored the game-winning goal with just four seconds left in regulation. Shannon O’Connor scored three goals and Elizabeth Pellechi added two, while goaltender Ericka Parks made 11 saves.
East rolled past Brentwood on Wednesday, 18-2, getting an eye-popping seven goals and four assists from Pellechi and another six goals from Grennan. East had another lopsided win Monday over Riverhead, 19-4. Pellechi scored six goals and had five assists, Grennan scored four times and Megan McEnroe added three goals.
West won two of its three games this week, beginning with a 19-7 win Monday over Longwood. Kelly Barbarite led the attack with four goals, while Kirsten Viscount added three goals with four assists. Danielle Heedles and Alexa Riportella also scored three times.
West dropped a 20-9 decision to first-place Northport on Friday. Viscount had three goals and an assist. Barbarite had two goals and two assists, and Riportella scored twice. West bounced back to defeat Whitman on Saturday, 19-9. Nikki Heldberg scored six times to lead West, which improved to 5-4 in Division I. Barbarite had three goals and four assists.
