Darkness halts Bay Shore-Commack softball showdown
Rachel Abzug #8 of Commack, right, gets congratulated by Michelle DeFina #17 after connecting for a two-run double in the top of the fourth inning of a Suffolk County League I softball game at Fifth Avenue Elementary School in Bay Shore on Friday, May 12, 2023. Credit: James Escher
Two extra innings weren’t enough to decide the top regular-season softball team in Suffolk I on Friday night.
Bay Shore and Commack tied 2-2 after nine innings before the game was called for darkness. Play will resume in the top of the 10th inning Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at Fifth Avenue School in Bay Shore.
It’ll be the final innings for the Cougars (13-4) and Marauders (13-5-1) before the postseason.
“I’m feeling like it got dark real quick,” Commack coach Harold Cooley III said. “Neither team wants to lose. I give a lot of credit to both defenses. I thought defensively today it was a very well-played game all around.”
As the sun finished setting, Bay Shore had a last chance to win.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Tiffany Mendez fouled off three pitches before popping the ninth pitch of the at-bat out to shortstop for the night’s final out.
“We’re getting base runners on, we just need that clutch hit,” Bay Shore coach Jackie Pasquerella said.
Emily Wolfe, who pitched seven innings for the Marauders, delivered a clutch hit to keep the game alive in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Down to the final out with runners on second and first base, Wolfe fell behind two strikes in the count, then laced a double to right field.
The ball rolled under the fence and was deemed unplayable, holding the potential winning run at third base on a ground-rule double.
"She’s been in that situation before,” Pasquerella said about Wolfe. “She’s composed. There’s no one better up there.”
Miara Mojica scored on a throwing error in the bottom of the third inning to give Bay Shore a one-run lead. Commack’s Rachel Abzug clubbed an RBI double to left field in the Marauders’ next round at the plate, pushing Bay Shore ahead 2-1.
That lead stood until the bottom of the seventh inning as Commack’s Kayla O’Boyle pitched the full nine innings and struck out 12 Marauders.
"She's been key all year," Cooley said about O'Boyle. "She's a workhorse. She wants the ball, and she's been doing it the entire season. She made some tough pitches in some really tough situations."
