Oyster Bay wins season opener

It was a tense victory for the Oyster Bay softball team Saturday. Past tense, present tense, and future tense, that is.

Oh sure, Oyster Bay made up a one-run deficit in the sixth inning, helped along by a misplayed ball and an error in the outfield to beat West Hempstead, 5-4, in the non-league season opener for both teams at Vernon Elementary School. But as a still developing team with a few dangling modifiers to resolve, this game was all about the verbs.

The past: former star pitcher Alex Aarons in the dugout, keeping score and keeping watch.

The present: her sister, starting pitcher Danielle Aarons, looking to establish her place atop the rotation and in the lineup.

The future: newcomer Olivia Agostinello, pitching in relief and earning the W.

"We've got a lot of work to do but I like our flexibility," coach Tim Brady said. "It's a lot of new people and new spots."

Saturday, it was a few tight spots as well.

Oyster Bay came back not once, but twice. It erased a two-run deficit with a three-run fifth inning and scored twice more in the sixth when Agostinello turned on a pitch with two on and two out for a hard-hit grounder to the left side of the infield. The ball skittered under the third baseman's glove and was misplayed in the outfield to plate the tying and go-ahead runs in Caitlin Madden and Aarons. Both had reached on walks.

"We just need confidence," said Aarons, who allowed two runs, both earned, on six hits in five innings "We're working on it. You gotta keep a positive attitude and just shake it off and throw."

For Aarons, it's not just the game at hand that matters, but the past's persistent pressure.

"It is a lot," Aarons said. Though Brady said he hopes to not rely heavily on any one pitcher, the senior is expected to get more play than last year, when she was Oyster Bay's No. 2. "There are expectations," Aarons continued. "My sister was the big Oyster Bay star . . . she's in the dugout helping us out and she's my biggest critic."

She's also, Aarons said, her biggest fan.

Brady, for one, is encouraged. "We're athletic. We can do something," he said. "It's a young team . . . [but] I like the toughness of them."

Nothing passive about that.