Sports

Mineola Softball Opens New Field with 9-1 Win

Catcher Venus christens new field with inside-the-park home run.

Aside from their respective positions at catcher, most wouldn’t see any connection between Smantha Venus and former Yankee Jorge Posada.

Yet for her part Wednesday afternoon, the Mineola High School senior was able to match the big leaguer in one aspect: they have both hit a home run to christen their new respective ballfields.

Venus’ shot, while not as long as Posada’s (and not over the fence) too sailed to center field at the new “Cow Pasture Field,” rolling all the way to the outfield, allowing for an inside-the-park shot to break a scoreless tie in the second against West Hempstead.

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The home run uncorked an offensive outburst from Mineola, who sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning and plated seven runs before tacking on another two en route to the 9-1 final.

“It’s a friendly field,” new first year coach Anthony Tramonte said.

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Friendly enough for the Mineola offense to belt out nine hits and six walks.

Friendly enough for lefty Emily Skupp to throw a full seven innings, allowing one run on a walk and an error in the seventh while fanning 10 and getting the win.

“If she’s going to pitch like this the rest of the year,” Tramonte said, “I definitely have high hopes for us, if not be at the head of our conference.”

The Lady Mustangs’ new field is far closer than their former digs, that of the backfield at the Cross Street School a mile north.

“It was a little inconvenient,” Tramonte said. “Now we have a field right in our own backyard, it’s close and it also gives an opportunity for the other students to come out and support us; it’s a field that belongs to the softball program alone.”

Last year Mineola finished fifth out of the seven conference teams, making the playoffs but were ousted in the first round, something Tramonte expects to change.

“A lot of these kids I had in the classroom as well so it’s amazing,” he said. “I got to see them academically, I got to see them grow.”

Despite being a rookie coach, Tramonte has experience for six years the middle school and as a fifth grade teacher.

When asked about how he and the team are feeling not only a win but about their new field, he said: “on top of the world right now,” and sporting a friendly smile.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E West Hempstead Lady Rams 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 0 Mineola Lady Mustangs 0 7 2 0 0 0 0 9 9 3

 

Mineola Batting Statistics













Player PA AB H 1B 2B HR SAC BB K RBI Runs BA OB% SLUG SB Emily Skupp 5 3 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 .333 .600 .333 1 Christina Palmenteri 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .333 .333 .333 1 Erin Etherson  2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 Valerie Fischer 4 3 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 .667 .750 .667 2 Katie Priolo 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 .000 .500 .000 0 Angela Ribeiro 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000
.000 0 Adrianna McKeever 3 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 .000 .000 .000 0 Rachel Montanez 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 Samantha Venus 4 3 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 3 1 .667 .750 1.666 0 Lauren Fischer 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 .000 .333 .000 0 Shannon Maloney 3 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 .667 .750 .666 1 Priscilla Ma 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 Lisa DeStefano 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 2 .500 .667 .500 0 Tess Cannell 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0

 

 

Mineola Pitching Statistics Pitcher IP H R ER BB K ERA Emily Skupp (W, 1-0) 7 3 1 0 5 10 0.00


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