Capuano, Silliman lead Hauppauge softball

The forecast called for rain. Hauppauge supplied the thunder.

With a frigid wind blowing in and freezing rain streaming down Thursday, Kristie Capuano and Marietta Silliman hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning, part of Hauppauge's 10-4 home win against Eastport-South Manor. The game was called for weather before the bottom of the fifth started.

"It's rare to go back-to-back in a softball game," said Capuano, who was 3-for-3 with a double, home run, four RBIs and two runs. "And me and her? Home runs haven't been my thing."

They were Thursday as seven Hauppauge starters recorded hits, led by Sandy Hawthorne (2-for-3, double, three runs, two stolen bases, RBI) and Devan Valoroso (2-for-2, run, two RBIs). Nina Gaita was 2-for-2 with a double, RBI and run for ESM (2-1).

Hawthorne led off the game with a double to center and scored on Valoroso's double a batter later. ESM starter Catherine Havens and Hauppauge hurler Nicole Ehlinger are two of the top pitchers in the county, and one run between these teams can sometimes look like a mountain. Considering that, what happened next is like Hauppauge building Mount Everest.

The Eagles (2-0) tacked on three runs in the second inning and then two more in the third. With one out in the fourth, Hawthorne reached on an error, stole second and advanced on an infield hit by Valoroso. Capuano stepped to the plate as the weather went from mild annoyance to full-on shower and cracked a long shot beyond the leftfield fence.

"She threw me inside and I was looking inside," Capuano said. "I just had to protect, and it went far."

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Silliman followed that up with a solo shot to right center.

"Everybody hit today," said Silliman, who was 2-for-3 with a double, home run, two RBIs and two runs. "We came to win and we won as a team."

Ehlinger was nearly perfect through the first four frames, her only mistake Gaita's two-out double down the leftfield line in the third. But Gaita was tagged out trying to stretch it to a triple and, until the fifth inning, Ehlinger never pitched with a runner on base.

With the weather worsening by the moment, her hands freezing and the ball drenched, Ehlinger walked the leadoff batter in the fifth and allowed three ESM runs to score before the final out.

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"My team had my back so much today," Ehlinger said. "To get the three outs at the end of the game, with the weather the way it was. It was insane."