Emily Lopez's sixth-inning RBI single puts Miller Place softball past Seaford in the Long Island Class A title game

Emily Lopez wasn’t having the Long Island championship game she'd hoped for.

The junior was 0-for-3 with three strikeouts entering the bottom of the sixth inning.

With the score tied, one out and runners on second and third, Miller Place coach Matt Timmons shouted to Lopez, “I need a fly ball here.”

Lopez did one better. She punched a single up the middle, driving in Ava Zicchinelli with the go-ahead run in Miller Place’s 7-4 win over Seaford for the Long Island Class A softball championship Thursday at Martha Avenue Recreational Park in Bellport.

“I was definitely nervous because I was having a tough day,” Lopez said. “But you’ve got to flip the page and forget what happened and move on.”

It’s the Panthers’ first Long Island title in program history. Miller Place (20-4) will return to Martha Avenue at 9 a.m. on Friday, June 7 for a state semifinal game against the winner of Iroquois (Section VI)/Sutherland (Section V).

Miller Place trailed 4-3 entering the bottom of the sixth, but a leadoff bunt single by Sadie Hoffman and a one-out single by Zicchinelli set up freshman Delaney Schleider for the tying RBI single to center.

“It’s her third year starting and she’s played with some really good players throughout those years,” Timmons said of Schleider. “We’re seeing the transition of being a sponge and learning from everybody to realizing it’s her time to be a leader.”

It was the three-hole hitter’s third hit and third RBI of the game. Zicchinelli and Lopez bat second and cleanup, respectfully.

“I always talk to them, especially the top of the lineup, and say, ‘When the spotlight turns on, some people turn away and some people embrace it,’” Timmons said. “That’s a moment for Ava, Delaney and Emily where it was now or never and they came through.”

A two-out error later in the sixth allowed two more runs to score.

An RBI single by Zicchinelli and a two-run single by Schleider in the fourth inning gave Miller Place a 3-0 lead with Zicchinelli dominating in the circle. Entering the sixth, Seaford (15-6) did not have a hit.

But then, Seaford's Alexa Villeck smoked a single to center and Skyler Secondino hit her own rocket of a single to left to start the inning. Villeck and Secondino both scored on an error and Alyssa Rodriguez' single drove in Kaitlyn Young with the tying run. Rodriguez scored on a two-out single by Rylie Betz to give the Vikings the lead.

But it wasn’t enough to keep Miller Place down.

“I’m glad that this family we’ve created was able to accomplish the goal we’ve been talking about since I was in seventh grade,” Schleider said.

Added Lopez: “I’m so proud of everyone. Everyone worked hard and they all deserve this. We’re not done yet.”