Kate Vessalico's double caps East Islip rally over Smithtown West in Suffolk Class AA finals Game 1
East Islip celebrates after defeating Smithtown West in the Suffolk Class AA softball championship on Saturday at Martha Ave. Field in Bellport. Credit: Neil Miller
There’s no quit in the East Islip softball team. Kate Vessalico is a perfect example.
Coach Jason McGowan said Vessalico was down on herself after a tough game earlier in the week. However, in the biggest moment of East Islip’s season, the junior played the hero.
Vessalico drove in Kayla Varga on a go-ahead, two-out double to centerfield in the top of the seventh of No. 1 East Islip’s 7-6 win over No. 2 Smithtown West in the final round of the Suffolk Class AA double-elimination playoffs at Martha Avenue Park on Saturday.
It’s the first loss of the postseason for Smithtown West (15-8), forcing a winner-take-all title game at 4 p.m. on Monday at Martha Avenue.
“I was so hyped the whole game with everyone’s hits and I was up to bat with everyone cheering me on, so my energy was so high,” Vessalico said. “After I got that hit, everybody was going crazy in the dugout. It made me so happy.”
Three batters earlier, Varga lined a double down the rightfield line and Reagan O’Hara scored from first to tie the score at 6.
“She’s locked in right now,” McGowan said. “I was real comfortable with her up there. And Reagan can run, so I knew anything in a gap, she would have a chance to score.”
East Islip (18-7) trailed 5-2 after three innings, but solo homers from Varga and Alyssa Corso cut the deficit to 5-4 in the fourth. Varga plated Sophia Corso on a single in the fifth to tie the score at 5.
Smithtown West regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Avery Bonello drove in Erin McDaid on a double to left.
In the second round of the playoffs, East Islip had overcome an 8-2 deficit to take a 9-8 win over West Babylon.
“We just did it, so we’ve been there before. We know the deal,” McGowan said. “There’s no quit in us.”
O’Hara caught a runner stealing third for the final out of the game.
Varga went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs, Lexi Kneisel went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Cate Ropiak allowed one earned run in a complete game to earn the win.
Jiselle Singh went 2-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs and Brianna Frayler went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Bulls.
East Islip forced a winner-take-all title game last year but lost, 2-1, to West Islip.
“It’s a whole extra year of preparation for our team,” Varga said. “We’re all such a family. We’re locked in together and we work hard together. Just prepare tomorrow and come ready to play another great game on Monday.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
