Mineola Lightning Falls in Merillon Championship

The Mineola Lightning came up just short in the Merillon Softball League Championship game on June 15, falling 5-4 to the Merillon Storm at Merillon Field.

The Lightning where led by the strong pitching of Grace Picone, Kaitlyn Wetzel, Sarah Carbain and Emily Haller who kept a explosive Storm line up to 5 runs while recording 8 strikeouts.

At the plate the team was lead by Ava Collica,Grace Picone, Kaitlyn Wetzel, Sarah Carbain, Vicky DeFrancis, Emily Haller and Meaghan Mccaffrey, who in her first Majors game had a two-run double.

To get to the championship the Lightning defeated Carle Place 12-10 on Sunday, June 10 at . In that game, Erin Miller had 3 runs scored and caught the last out on a screaming line drive to short. Aileen Miller and Kaitlyn Mccarey combined to score 4 runs in the game. In her first majors game, Jillian Haller had three RBIs from the No. 10 spot in the lineup. The pitching of Emily Haller, who had 7 strikeouts in the game in 3 innings pitched, baffled Carle Place batters and was helped out by the return of her regular catcher Kaityln Wetzel.

The Lightning would like to thank Hannah Hoyt and Samantha Trested who played all season but weren't able to play in the playoffs. The Lightning would also like to thank their coaches Matt Hoyt, Tom Carbain, Michelle Haller, Ray Haller, Matt Miller and Darren Wetzel.

Next year the team will be back in full, so the Lightning are looking to return to Merillon to win the championship.