West Babylon softball's Autumn Romano an ace in the circle to lead victory over Deer Park

Autumn Romano is an eighth-grader, but she handles stressful situations in the circle like a seasoned vet.

Romano pitched with a lead the entire game and, despite running into jams in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, she and the West Babylon defense found ways to get out of them.

Romano struck out five and allowed one earned run in seven innings to lead visiting West Babylon to a 6-2 win over Deer Park in Suffolk League IV softball on Wednesday.

“She dials in when she needs to. She’s always ready to go. She’s incredibly mentally tough,” coach Joe Montanino said.

“She hasn’t even hit the tip of the iceberg yet. She’s already throwing 59 [mph]. We’re lucky to have her for another four years after this one.”

Leading 2-1 in the fourth, Romano faced runners on the corners with one out. In a 2-2 count, she threw a nasty changeup for a swing and a miss. She fell behind in the count, 3-0, to the next batter before pumping in two strikes and inducing a pop-up to catcher Maria Fiume to escape the inning.

“You have to trust your defense and have confidence in yourself that you will make a good pitch,” Romano said. “It is stressful in those situations, but you just have to trust in your team.”

West Babylon led, 3-1, in the fifth until Summer Eisenberg ripped a two-out single down the third baseline to plate Adison Patrick and cut Deer Park’s deficit to one. Romano hit the next batter to load the bases before getting a grounder to her older sister, Storm, at shortstop.

The senior initially bobbled the ball but made the throw to first baseman Jillian Goldberg in time for the final out.

“I know she has my back,” Romano said. “I always hear her cheering me on behind me and I have the same trust in her that she has in me.”

Romano faced runners on second and third with one out in the sixth but worked out of the inning with a flyout to Giovanna Miranda in rightfield and another groundout to Storm.

Fiume went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, Miranda went 2-for-3 with a run and Eliza Tymann went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs. Alana Villavicencio struck out six and allowed one earned run in seven innings for Deer Park (1-3, 1-3).

West Babylon (4-1, 2-1) has a mostly young team with four seniors, three of whom are starters. Like Romano, the younger Eagles play like they’re fifth-year starters.

“It’s a pleasure coaching girls with such high softball IQ that you can have softball conversations with and bounce ideas off each other,” Montanino said. “We work together as a group and it just makes it more fun and keeps them engaged.”

Last year, the Eagles made Suffolk’s double-elimination playoffs for the first time since 2018. West Babylon lost both playoff games, but the Eagles are excited about what they’re building.

“Our goal last year was to make playoffs. Not win, just make it there,” Fiume said. “This year, our goal is to go further into the playoffs.”