Mepham receives contributions throughout lineup to claim Nassau A title
Mepham softball teammates celebrate after their county championship-clinching 10-4 win over Calhoun in Game 2 of the best-of-three Nassau Class A final at Mitchel Athletic Complex on Sunday, May 29. Play resumed after heavy rain on Saturday forced the game to be suspended in the fourth inning. Credit: James Escher
Alanna Morse and Hailey Guerrero showed off their power in the first game of the best-of-three Nassau Class A softball championship series Friday night.
In Game 2, the rest of their teammates showed why Mepham has been one of the top teams on Long Island over the last three years.
Lily Yepez, Gia Miccio and Giselle DeLutri had two hits and two runs apiece to lift No. 2 Mepham past No. 5 Calhoun, 10-4, in the clinching game of their series Sunday at Mitchel Athletic Complex.
“If you want to pitch around Alanna then you have to face Hailey, and if you want to pitch around Hailey then we come back with hitters like Gia and Kylie (Persampire),” Mepham coach Tom Simone said. “Our lineup is pretty stacked and it really doesn’t give pitchers any rest.”
Mepham (18-4) had a six-run first inning that began with three walks and an error. Miccio’s single drove in Avery Betancourt to open up a 2-0 lead and catcher Sera Muoio had a two-run double that capped the scoring.
Mepham led 6-0 after three innings Saturday before play was suspended due to rain. The game was completed Sunday afternoon. Calhoun (16-8) was led by Gabby Razza, who had a two-run home run.
“I think that rain delay hurt us,” Simone said. “It took us a good two innings today (Sunday) to get back in the game and get our momentum.”
Morse's walk-off sacrifice fly in the eighth inning gave Mepham an 11-10 extra-inning win in the first game of the series. She had two home runs and seven RBIs and Guerrero also homered in the game.
Mepham will look to carry the momentum from this weekend into the Long Island championship game against East Islip on Saturday at the Moriches Athletic Complex.
“It was definitely a relief to come out strong,” Morse said. “We’re always ready for a challenge. We knew that in the second game we just needed to play our game and do what we know how to do.”
Gene Morris joined Newsday's sports department in September 2012 and covers high school sports. He earned a journalism degree from Stony Brook University in 2010.
