Miller, Backer work squeeze play to lift East Meadow in 11 innings
It was one of those movie-like scenes that could’ve been scored by classical music. The No. 9 hitter up with a runner on third, one out in the bottom of the 11th, the teams stalemated and neither star pitcher relenting.
Isabella Corrao let out a grunt as she fired toward the low outside corner she’d owned for more than two hours. But here’s where the script flips: Christine Backer dropped down a bunt, gently nudging the ball about 12 feet up the first-base line as Sam Miller came full speed from third. The first baseman fielded it and flipped home, but Miller slid in with the winning run.
And so ended a marathon contest in which top-seeded East Meadow edged Farmingdale, 2-1, Friday to reach the Nassau Class AA softball final.
“Suicide squeeze is on, Sam’s coming,” Backer said. “I had to get it down, no matter what.”
Miller started the 11th at second via the International Tiebreaker Rule that begins each inning after the ninth with a runner at second. Nikki Giocastro bunted her over. “I was waiting to hear the umpire’s call after I slid,” Miller said, “but then I saw my teammates rushing the field.”
Farmingdale (11-8) took a 1-0 lead in the first on Kelly Ann Keenan’s RBI groundout and the Jets (16-1) tied it in the third. Rachel Sidney, who’d reached second on an error, scored on a grounder to short that took a bad hop over the fielder’s shoulder.
From there, the pitchers clamped down. Corrao had a three-hitter with no walks and 17 strikeouts. Lindsay McKillop allowed four hits, struck out 16 and intentionally walked Corrao five times. Some Dalers fans booed, “but I wasn’t going to let her beat us,” Jets coach Cindy McCarthy said.
“I knew we’d pull through,” McKillop said. “Seeing teammates in the hallway at school, everyone was so pumped.”
The fourth-seeded Dalers threatened with two outs in the 10th. With the bases loaded, Keenan hit a sharp grounder up the middle that McKillop bobbled, but she recovered in time to nab her at first by a step.
“This is huge,” said McCarthy, whose team lost in the semifinals the previous two years. “The girls proved they can dig deep.”
MacArthur advances. Kristen Brown allowed six hits and struck out six to lead No. 6 MacArthur to a 5-0 win over second-seeded Carey (13-6) in the other Class AA semifinal. Jena Cozza went 3-for-4 and scored the first run on a wild pitch. The Generals (16-5), who lost to Carey in the second round last season, will face East Meadow in the final at 4 p.m. Monday.
“Our goal this whole year was to make it to the finals,” Brown said. “We just ignore the seedings. Everyone thinks we’re the underdogs, but we don’t put that in our minds.”
Remembering 9/11: Where things stand now As we remember those we lost on 9/11, we're looking at the ongoing battle to secure long term protection for first responders and the latest twists and turns in the casesof the accused terrorists.
Remembering 9/11: Where things stand now As we remember those we lost on 9/11, we're looking at the ongoing battle to secure long term protection for first responders and the latest twists and turns in the casesof the accused terrorists.
