Katie Young, Skyler Secondino drive Seaford to Nassau Class B softball championship
Seaford celebrates winning the Nassau Class B softball championship against Carle Place at Mitchel Athletic Complex on Monday, May 29, 2023. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Katie Young wasn’t looking to do anything fancy at the plate. She just wanted to get on base to help Seaford take the lead in the top of the eighth inning.
Instead, she rocketed a leadoff home run over the leftfield fence.
The homer by Young — who also hit a three-run triple in the eighth and finished with four RBIs — began a seven-run inning that gave No. 1 Seaford an 11-4 victory over No. 3 Carle Place in Game 2 of the Nassau Class B softball finals at Mitchel Athletic Complex.
Seaford (13-10) swept the best-of-three series and will play Center Moriches (11-11) in the Long Island Class B championship game at 5 p.m. on Thursday at Farmingdale State College.
“I was so glad because we gained momentum back after they caught up to us and took the lead,” Young said. “We all just knew what we had to do, and we did it.”
Skyler Secondino pitched a complete game, striking out 10 and allowing four hits. She also drove in three runs.
“If you can work past those lows, that’s what you see from those two girls this year — the ability to face adversity and come out on top,” coach Joseph Nastasi said. “I really can’t say enough about Skyler and Katie Young, especially being sophomores.
“You’d probably think they’re both seniors,” Nastasi added. “Being sophomores and already having that fight and heart in them, it’s incredible.”
Carle Place (17-6) scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 4-1 lead, and Frogs pitcher Marissa Nosovitch allowed only one baserunner in the fifth and sixth.
However, the Vikings tied the score in the top of the seventh, helped by singles by Kaitlyn Young, Alyssa Rodriguez and Jessica Haering,
and Secondino pitched a 1-2-3 bottom half to force extra innings.
“I really like to make the hitters chase,” Secondino said. “I go outside a lot, get them to lunge or even [pitch] up to change their eye level. I also really have relied on my changeup a lot because I feel like it gets them off balance, and I think that really helped me today.”
