Glenn's Capobianco power display impressive

One time Samantha Capobianco hit a ball so far, it hit the baseball field. On the fly. Another day, she decided she didn't want to be intentionally walked, so she reached out and smacked a double. Some say the only way to prevent her from hitting home runs is to play your outfielders well beyond their normal positions, backing up way far in fenceless fields.

The stories sound like the type reserved for the likes of a Pecos Bill or Paul Bunyan. But Capobianco doesn't swing an ax, she swings a bat. And boy does she swing it.

Capobianco led Long Island with 12 home runs this season. She homered in five straight games - twice. She has a .574 batting average and 1.426 slugging percentage. Of her 31 hits, 20 were for extra bases.

"I guess I'm more of a 'see it-hit it' kind of person," the Glenn senior said. "I'm not a fan of changeups; if I get one, I have to hit it. But fastballs are the ones that go the farthest."

Before the 2010 season, Capobianco, who will attend SUNY-Plattsburgh in September, had hit only 10 or 11 home runs in her high school career. She smacked just four long balls in 2009.

"Starting out as a freshman until junior year, I was just getting ready," she said. "I was trying to get into college and I tried to work my hardest, and I was nervous 'cause I was young. This year, I was already in college and I wanted to end it with a bang."

The season started for Capobianco not with a blast but a whimper. She drove in Kaitlyn Fabian with a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh to beat Mount Sinai, 8-7, on March 26, but failed to homer in her first three games.

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Then she hit one against Hampton Bays on April 10 and homered in the next four games. She hit a home run against Babylon on April 13 and probably could have had two more.

"We don't have a fence at home, and they actually pushed their outfielders all the way back so they could catch the balls," coach Chris Vandernoth said. "I looked at her and I said there was nothing we could do. I just thought 'Wow, we really need a fence.' It's a point where you have to put your head between your shoulders and just laugh."

Said Capobianco: "I guess I got robbed a little bit, but I made up for it the rest of the season."

On April 14, she hit for the cycle with a 4-for-4, five-RBI, five-run day. After a two-game break, she homered in five more consecutive contests. She hit three against Southampton in a 9-8 losing effort May 7.

"Umpires even started to make comments like 'I've never seen somebody hit so far,' " Vandernoth said. "Sometimes they'd stop and be like, 'Wow. Holy cow.' "

Making her efforts that much more incredible, as Capobianco heated up, Glenn cooled down, the team ultimately finishing with a 6-11 record and missing the playoffs. Teams started to get wise to the Suffolk League VII hitter with all the power and began to pitch around her. Long story short, it didn't work.

"I don't like getting walked, and I tried my hardest to step in and hit it," Capobianco said. "I wasn't gonna let them walk me. One I got a double off of. I didn't want to waste any at-bats this year."