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Sports

Mineola Tops Bulldogs in Softball Season Opener

Tracy Reardon pulled through for Lady Mustangs with game winning hit.

The Mineola girls’ varsity softball team (1-0) started their new season Wednesday afternoon  in triumphant fashion, defeating the Hewlett Lady Bulldogs (1-2) by a score of 8-7 in a neck-and-neck matchup.

Mineola senior Tracy Reardon sealed the game in the bottom of the seventh inning with a powerful hit to break the tie and send fellow captain Christina Palmenteri home with the game-winning run.

“The girls had to come together as a team and keep battling,” Mineola head coach Melissa Skupp said of their road to victory. “I think this win sets a tone for the season.”

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Both teams started off a bit slow but the girls soon found themselves engaged in a heated battle that bounced back and forth to the very end.

After a scoreless first inning, Hewlett took a lead early in the second to boost the score to 3-0.

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The Lady Mustangs fired back when freshman Valerie Fischer put her team on the board with a single run.

Momentum ended up carrying the team as the ladies of Mineola tied the score by the bottom of the third inning.

Vallery Fischer, a young star, was a homerun short of the cycle, going 3-4 with a walk, an RBI and scored 2 runs in the contest.

Meanwhile, Reardon, Mineola’s centerfielder, hit a double, a pair of singles, stole five bases  and was walked twice.

“They showed a lot of character as a team to put some timely, good hits together and some great base running," Skupp said. “They knew they could do it.”

Collectively the Lady Mustangs had a batting average of .407 against Hewlett and an on-base percentage of .579.

Mineola had a total of 12 stolen bases in the game.

In a , the Lady Mustangs are looking to return to the playoffs, where they have always had the potential to be, according to the head coach.

“We need to keep our confidence up and really build off of this win,” Skupp said.   

Mineola will hit the field again Friday afternoon at West Hempstead High School at 4:30 p.m., weather permitting.

Update: Friday’s game has been rained out. It has been rescheduled for Monday afternoon as a makeup at 4:30 p.m.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E Hewlett Lady Bulldogs 0 3 0 0 3 1 0 7 4 3 Mineola Lady Mustangs 0 1 2 0 2 2 1 8 8 4 Mineola Batting Statistics Player PA AB H 1B 2B 3B SAC BB K RBI Runs BA OB% SLUG SB Christina Palmenteri 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 .000 .400 .000 2  Tracy Reardon 5 3 3 2 1 0 0 2 0 1 2 1.000 1.000 1.333 5 Kathryn Priolo 4 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 .250 .250 .250 1 Krystie Kern 4 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 .333 .250 .333 0 Erin Etherson 4 2 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 .500 .500 .500 1 Valerie Fischer 4 3 3 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 2 1.000 1.000 2.000 2 Lauren Fischer 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 .000 .000 .000 1 Shannon Maloney 4 3 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 .667 .500 .667 0 Adriana McKeever 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 .000 .500 .000 0
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