Bella Gray gets help from 'D' as Long Beach tops Port Washington in softball
Bella Gray of Long Beach windmills her pitch during a Nassau Conference V softball game against host Port Washington on Monday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Bella Gray’s right arm and Long Beach’s defense have the Marines in strong position to win a conference title.
Gray allowed four hits and two runs over seven innings as Long Beach defeated host Port Washington, 3-2, in Nassau V softball on Monday.
“At times I put more pressure on myself to be better and to throw more strikes,” Gray said. “My team always backs me up and that makes me feel better when I’m pitching.”
Brianna Bothell hit a one-out single in the top of the first. Andie Spiteri followed with a triple to drive in Bothell and scored when the throw into third went out of play, putting Long Beach ahead 2-0.
“I have confidence in myself and all the girls with the bats,” Spiteri said. “I knew that even if we didn’t string together many hits, we’d play strong defense and get great pitching.”
Alex Miller doubled to lead off the bottom of the second for Port Washington. Abby Trenaman followed with a double, moving Miller to third. Andie Corber grounded out, bringing Miller home to cut the Long Beach lead to 2-1.
Spiteri singled to lead off the fourth and Jorjia Domingo doubled to give Long Beach runners on second and third with no outs. Third baseman Gabby Fushetto, threw Spiteri out at the plate for the second out of the inning, but Domingo scored on a wild pitch with two outs, to extend Long Beach’s lead to 3-1.
Fushetto hit a two-out single to drive in Sophie Schwartz for Port Washington and cut the Long Beach lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth. Gray induced a pop-up in the next at-bat to strand runners on first and second.
Sydney Olivo made a diving catch on a sinking liner in rightfield, ending the bottom of the third for Long Beach. Shortstop Emily Adler made grabs on sharp grounders in the fourth and seventh innings before firing to first to help preserve the Marines’ lead.
“I always expect my defense to be there and this game really showed it,” Gray said. “When girls are hitting balls off me, I can rely on the defense to turn them into outs.”
Long Beach (10-1) is undefeated (10-0) in conference play. The Marines now hold a three-game lead in conference V.
“We played Port Washington the first game of the season and we extended the lead late, but I told the girls to expect a closer game,” Long Beach coach Carmine Verde said. “That’s exactly what we got, but these girls battle to the last pitch.”
Christopher Matias covers high school sports for Newsday after spending time in Athletic Facilities and Operation at St. John’s and in Sports Information at CUNY York college.
