Bellport softball's Bridget Barry befuddles Rocky Point with 3-hitter
Bridget Barry of Bellport delivers a pitch during a Suffolk softball game on Friday, April 5, 2024. Credit: David Meisenholder
Bellport is acing chemistry and showing improvement.
The Clippers won just five of their 19 games last season. But after Bridget Barry tossed a three-hitter in a 4-1 home win over Rocky Point on Friday, this Suffolk III softball team was off to a 2-2 start overall and in the league.
It’s hoping to make a run at a playoff ticket to the county’s Class AA tournament.
Coach Kate Cutrone can feel a nice vibe around these players.
“We’ve got some really great team chemistry going on,” Cutrone said after this mandatory nonleague game that counted toward the league standings. “We’re really playing together as a team. We’ve got a lot of young players who are stepping up.
“But our veterans are coming through for us as well. It really helps when your best players are your greatest teammates and are really great leaders.”
Barry has been their top pitcher for four years now. The senior righthander, who’s a SUNY Oneonta commit, fanned just two but walked only one.
“My curveball was working really well,” Barry said. “So it was nice to throw it and watch them swing outside and not make good contact with the ball.”
The lone run off Barry was unearned in the first.
“She hit her spots well, and she utilized her changeup,” Cutrone said.
Angely Banegas and Caitlin Maragioglio each had two hits and an RBI. Gianna Brown also had two hits. Alex Pole delivered two of Rocky Point’s hits.
“We put a lot of balls in play,” Eagles coach Peter Costa said. “We just couldn’t find the openings.”
Bellport tied it in the second against freshman righty Reese Berzolla. Maragioglio lined a run-scoring single into right-center.
A three-run third was next. Barry opened with a single but was erased on a force. Charlotte Barry, her eighth-grade sister, followed with a single. A groundout moved two into scoring position. Banegas then made it 2-1 with a single to center.
Then came a double steal with Banegas swiping second and Charlotte Barry racing home. An error produced the final run.
Banegas also made a nice running catch to start a double play in the sixth.
“I think we all really stepped it up this game,” the junior centerfielder said.
The Eagles, meanwhile, fell to 0-6 overall and 0-5 in Suffolk V.
“We’ve had some tough competition in the beginning,” Costa said, “and we’re hoping to turn it around.”
