St. Anthony's Lia Fong tosses one-hit shutout against Commack
Lia Fong tossed a one-hitter and walked one as St. Anthony’s topped Commack on Saturday, April 16, 2022. Credit: Dawn McCormick
The swing and miss was a reoccurring image when Lia Fong stepped into the circle on Saturday morning.
St. Anthony’s defeated Commack 5-0, in non-league softball at St. Anthony’s. Fong threw a one-hit shutout and struck out 11 batters and Friars teammate Sarah Bielski had three hits and drove in two runs.
Fong struck out the first batter she faced before hitting the next. A caught stealing and another strikeout quickly erased the Commack threat.
“I knew they were a solid lineup, so I just wanted to go in there and throw strikes,” Fong said. “I was throwing my spin pitches to try and get swing and misses.”
Bella Cruz worked a walk in the bottom of the first and stole second. Bielski advanced Cruz to third with a single and the two executed a delayed double-steal to score the game’s first run.
“It was a read and react kind of thing,” Bielski said. “We work on baserunning a lot in practice, when we see the ball, we go, we have to score.”
Fong walked one batter who was erased on a strike-em out throw-em out double play in the third. She retired the side in order in the second, fourth, and fifth innings.
Josephina Alfano tripled in the third and drove in Cruz. Bielski then drove a double into the gap to bring Alfano home. She drove in her second run with a two-out single up the middle in the fifth.
“I just try to have good at-bats and get positive results,” Bielski said. “Have to try to make contact the best I can, line drives and try to find a hole.”
Michelle DeFina singled with one-out in the sixth to break up Fong’s no-hit bid. She proceeded to strike out the next two hitters and then retire the side in order in the seventh. Fong got 10 of her 11 strikeouts on swings and misses.
“I didn’t know I had a no-hitter going, everyone just let me go along,” Fong said. “After the hit I just took a breath and reset.”
Baserunning is key for St. Anthony’s, they stole five bases and took an extra base on two wild pitches. Julie Murillo flashed the team’s prowess when she scored from second on a sacrifice fly by Jackie Morra.
“We try to cause havoc on the bases, put pressure on teams with the baserunning,” coach Mike Massa said. “We see the ball, read it, and react."
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.
