Westhampton's Mackenzie Herrera holds off Riverhead in complete-game win

Westhampton’s season has been clouded by uncertainty with pitcher Addison Celi sidelined by elbow inflammation. Mackenzie Herrera is looking to provide some clarity.

The junior struck out four and allowed two runs on seven hits in a complete game to lead the Hurricanes to a 4-2 win over visiting Riverhead in non-league softball on Monday.

Celi has amassed more than 700 strikeouts in her career and was named to Newsday’s All-Long Island second team last season.

Herrera, who only pitched two innings last season, has taken over in the circle as Celi awaits an MRI.

“It’s kind of new territory for her,” coach Jeff Doroski said. “She hasn’t been the one that’s had to carry a load. When she was on JV, she was throwing a lot of games. Last year, she didn’t really get many opportunities. She’s really taken the ball and run with it.”

Herrera didn’t run into trouble until the seventh inning, when Shaylee Bealey drove in Jordyn Kwasna on a single and Morgan Gajowski plated Isabella D’Andrea on a single to center. With Bealey on third, Gajowski represented the tying run on second with one out.

Herrera struck out the next two batters to escape the jam and secure the win.

“She has really good energy,” shortstop Katie Burke said. “Even when we’re down, she’s able to pick us up. She’s taken the role perfectly.”

Herrera pitched to contact and leaned on Burke and the Hurricanes’ defense, which made no errors. She used her changeup often to keep Riverhead’s dangerous offense off balance. Riverhead (5-2) averaged 14 runs per game entering Monday.

“It’s a pitch that I work a lot on to make sure I can throw it as a strike most of the time,” Herrera said. “I throw it to get batters off my speed when they’re hitting it a lot.”

Freshman Reilly Maloney went 2-for-3 and drove in Burke and Rylee McGinness on a two-out single in the bottom of the first.

“It’s great to see the aggression from the girls who are freshmen and sophomores,” said Burke, a junior.

Burke lined a single to center to drive in Michaela Hertwig in the second inning and McGinness followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Luciana Reilly.

As Celi and Westhampton (3-4) aim to find clarity on her injury, the Hurricanes still have high hopes for this season.

“Addison’s injury is kind of the unknown right now, but we also know that we can compete without her and we’ve been doing that,” Doroski said. “If we can play sound defense, throw strikes and push across a couple of runs like we did today, we’ll be in games.”