Deanna Ebert's arm, bat lead Bay Shore to win over Lindenhurst
Starting pitcher Deanna Ebert of Bay Shore throws to the plate during a Suffolk softball game against Lindenhurst on Friday, April 29, 2022 in Bay Shore. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Pain was merely mental for Deanna Ebert on Friday night. Despite injuring her ring and middle fingers, she gutted through discomfort in a game with big implications.
Bay Shore defeated Lindenhurst 9-3 at Fifth Avenue School in a battle of the top two teams in Suffolk League II softball. Ebert pitched a complete game and drove in two runs for the Marauders. Caroline Hobbes went 4-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and two stolen bases.
Bay Shore opened with a big first inning after Ebert retired Lindenhurst in order in the top of the inning. Kaelyn Pellman doubled with one out to start a string of six consecutive hitters reaching base for the Marauders.
Ebert helped her own cause with a single up the middle to drive in two runs and make the score 4-0 even after injuring two of her fingers in the at-bat. Bay Shore added two more runs in the first on RBI singles by Gavriella Cabrera and Tiffany Mendez.
“My middle finger and finger kind of got smashed in the bottom of the first,” Ebert said. “I had to rely on my fastball since my fingers weren’t allowing my spins to work well,”
Lindenhurst scored two in the top of the second on a double by Frankie Barone and escaped a bases loaded jam with no outs to keep the game in reach in the bottom half.
Hobbes singled to start off the bottom of the fourth and then stole second to put the Marauders in position to extend their lead. After Emily Wolfe singled and Ebert walked, Rosalynda Russo hit a two-run single to give Bay Shore an 8-3 lead.
“The first time we played them was not my best showing,” Hobbes said. “I had to come in today confident and just say 'see ball and hit ball.'”
Ebert showed no ill effects from the injury late in the game as she made a defensive gem in the top of the fifth. She snagged a comebacker on a hop and fired to second to start a double play.
With this win Bay Shore (10-3) hands Lindenhurst (8-4) its first loss in league play and grabs a share of first place as both teams now sit at 7-1 in League II.
“This was a make-or-break game for our goals,” Hobbes said. “We didn’t put on our best performance the first time we played them, so they were confident, but we needed to protect our homefield.”
Christopher Matias covers high school sports for Newsday after spending time in Athletic Facilities and Operation at St. John’s and in Sports Information at CUNY York college.
