2006 All-Long Island Softball

BY JASON MOLINET | Newsday Staff Writer
June 18, 2006
A look at Long Island's best softball players for the 2006 season.

Christa Cerrone
Nassau Player of the Year
Floral Park, Pitcher, Senior
Cerrone went 24-2 this spring with a 0.93 ERA and 235 strikeouts in 165 innings. The five-year player also set a school record with 19 strikeouts in a game. Cerrone batted .365 with six homers, 12 RBIs and 16 runs. Cerrone, a .354 career hitter and 42-10 overall, rebounded in a big way after missing much of her junior year with injury. Not only did she dominate in the circle, she set the tone as one of Long Island's most feared leadoff hitters.

Nicole Constantatos
Commack, Pitcher, Senior
Constantatos, perhaps Long Island's premier pitcher, took Commack to the Suffolk Class AA semifinals in back-to-back seasons. The six-year starter and school's all-time wins leader (65-24) also pitched No.12 seed Commack to the Suffolk Class AA title game as a sophomore. This season, she went 15-6 with a 1.52 ERA and 171 strikeouts and batted .343. Constantatos, who finishes with 791 career strikeouts, is headed to Binghamton.

Kristina DeMeo
Suffolk Player of the Year
Bay Shore, Catcher, Senior
DeMeo, a four-year starter, anchored the Marauders' defense and one of Long Island's most potent offenses. She won two Suffolk, two Long Island and one state title along the way. The catcher batted .432 with nine home runs, 40 RBIs and 36 runs. She had an .838 slugging percentage. That point was highlighted by her powerful home run in the first inning of the state title game, a 5-4 loss to Cicero-North Syracuse (III). DeMeo threw out 8 of 12 attempted base-stealers and caught both Erika Sullivan and Hope Zino. DeMeo is headed to Dowling.

Brittany DeVries
Islip, Shortstop, Senior
DeVries, a five-year starter, guided Islip to the Suffolk Class A title game. She batted .494 with 10 extra-base hits, 16 RBIs, 28 runs and 17 steals. DeVries, a .361 career hitter with 88 runs and 58 steals, is headed to Bloomfield College (N.J.).

Melissa Donnelly
Long Beach, Pitcher, Junior
Donnelly emerged as one of Nassau's best pitchers and led Long Beach to a surprising berth in the Nassau Class AA championship series. Donnelly went 13-7 with a 1.52 ERA and 152 strikeouts in 115 innings.

Jamie Downer
Glen Cove, Third base/outfield, Senior
Downer, an All-Long Island pick as a sophomore, led a resurgent Glen Cove team to the Nassau Class A championship series this spring. She batted .536 with five homers, five doubles, 19 RBIs and 30 runs. Nassau's most feared hitter drew a remarkable 32 walks. Downer is headed to Stony Brook University.

Olivia Galati
St. John the Baptist, Pitcher, Freshman
Galati pitched the Cougars to their first Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA title in 17 years. Galati went 12-1 with a 0.52 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 81 innings. She also batted .463. Her defining moment: a two-hit shutout of St. Joseph by the Sea (S.I.) to win the CHSAA Downstate final.

Chris Hilcken
Seaford, Pitcher, Junior
Hilcken, a two-time All-Long Island pick, pitched Seaford to the Nassau Class A semifinals one year after winning a Long Island Class A title. Hilcken was named Kathy Del Gais Nassau pitcher of the year after going 16-3 with a 0.45 ERA and 168 strikeouts in 123 innings. But she was a true two-way force who also batted .689 with eight triples, 36 RBIs and 23 runs.

Christine Knauer
Whitman, Shortstop, Senior
Knauer, who was league player of the year, batted .481 with four homers, 25 RBIs and 35 steals. She was just as awesome in the field. Knauer, who played in the state Class A title game as a freshman and had 105 career steals, is headed to North Carolina.

Melissa Medina
Holy Trinity, Centerfield, Senior
Medina, a two-time All-Long Island pick, led the Titans to the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA title game for the third straight season. The league player of the year batted .380 with 18 RBIs, 17 runs and 28 steals from the leadoff spot. Medina is headed to C.W. Post.

Christie Softy
Floral Park, Catcher, Senior
Softy, a two-time All-Long Island pick, put the power in Floral Park's potent lineup. She helped the Knights advance to the state Class A title game. Softy, a five-year starter, batted .532 with a school-record 10 homers, 30 RBIs and 27 runs. Softy is headed to C.W. Post.

Jessie Stavola
East Hampton, Pitcher, Sophomore
Stavola gave up just one run in 18 innings to help East Hampton edge familiar rivals Sayville and Islip to win the Suffolk Class A title. She went 19-2 with a 0.41 ERA and a school-record 222 strikeouts in 142 innings. Along the way, Stavola posted 10 shutouts and three no-hitters. Just a sophomore, Stavola also owns the school mark with 378 career strikeouts.

Erika Sullivan
Bay Shore, Pitcher/second base, Junior
Sullivan, an All-Suffolk pick as an eighth- and ninth-grader, missed all of 2005 with a torn right labrum. She went 16-1 with a 0.39 ERA and 147 strikeouts in 112 innings with 11 shutouts and two no-hitters. Sullivan also batted .338 with two home runs, 16 RBIs and 24 runs.

Jenna Vanacore
Holy Trinity, Pitcher, Junior
Vanacore, a three-time All-Long Island pick, pitched the Titans to the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA title game for the third straight season. She went 8-3 with a 0.53 ERA and 123 strikeouts in 78 innings.

Jim McGowan
Suffolk Coach of the Year
Bay Shore (26-3)
McGowan, 54, guided the Marauders to the state Class AA title game before losing, 5-4, to host Cicero-North Syracuse (Section III). It was the first time in seven trips to the final that Bay Shore did not come away as champion. Along the way, Bay Shore enjoyed a 42-game winning streak, dating to last season. Bay Shore also won its 10th county and ninth Long Island titles since 1994. McGowan is the winningest softball coach in state history with a 541-75 record in 24 seasons. This is his second straight coach of the year award.

Joe Lores
Nassau Coach of the Year
East Rockaway (21-5)
Lores, 48, took East Rockaway, Nassau's smallest public school, beyond all expectations to the state Class C Final Four. Not only did the Rocks dominate despite playing mostly Class A competition during the regular season, they won their second straight Nassau title. The Rocks won their first Long Island title and retuned to the Final Four for the first time since 1988. Lores, who owns a 196-119 record in 15 seasons, also coached the East Rockaway girls soccer team to the Nassau Conference VII title in the fall and the boys basketball team to the Nassau Class C title in February. Not a bad school year.

Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.

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