East Islip softball rides Caitlin Ropiak's pitching, hitting to victory over West Islip

Freshman pitcher Caitlin Ropiak is exactly what East Islip softball needs her to be: Focused on the task at hand.

On Wednesday evening, Ropiak and her crew took a ride over to West Islip High School for a Suffolk League IV showdown with their crosstown rivals. Ropiak pitched a one-hit shutout with 14 strikeouts and also smacked a two-run home run to carry East Islip to a crucial 5-0 road win, giving the team sole possession of second place in the league.

Ropiak was surgical in the circle, as it took her just 105 pitches (66 strikes) to complete the game. She struck out each of her first six batters and retired each of the first 14. In total, she struck out the side in order three times throughout the game.

Her only baserunner came with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, when West Islip sophomore first baseman Penelope Knoop lined a soft single into shallow right-center on the ninth pitch of the at-bat.

Ropiak was hardly disappointed after losing the potential perfect game, as she did not even realize she was flirting with one to begin with.

“I don’t really think when I’m pitching,” Ropiak said. “It makes me calm, and I know I have my teammates who are there to make all the plays. I knew that they had my back, so I could just pitch and try to strike the next batter out.”

After Knoop’s hit, Ropiak put down the final seven hitters, striking out five.

Though her pitching performance was almost spotless, it was her bat that changed the entire complexity of the game. In the top of the third inning, after an RBI single by junior catcher Reagan O’Hara plated the game’s first run, Ropiak stepped in and squared up the first pitch she saw, roping a line drive through the wind and over the left-centerfield fence for a two-run shot to make it 3-0.

After striking out in the first inning with the bases loaded, Ropiak changed her approach, leading to the redeeming home run.

“My first at-bat . . . I was a couple of seconds late,” Ropiak said. “The second at-bat, I just stayed back and took advantage of the first strike I saw.”

Sophomore second baseman Marisa Renganeschi was effective in setting the table for East Islip (5-1). The leadoff hitter finished 1-for-3 with a double, a 10-pitch walk, reached twice on errors, stole two bases and scored two runs.

She was one of three starters in East Islip’s lineup that did not even need to make a play in the field due to Ropiak’s gem.

“It’s a breeze playing behind her,” Renganeschi said. “She’s just insane. She’s so tough.”

For West Islip (5-2), junior pitcher Emily Bouros went the distance, allowing just three earned runs on six hits while striking out 12.