Massapequa softball's late rally forces deciding Game 3 against Oceanside in Nassau 'AAA' final
Massapequa celebrates after deeating Oceanside in Game 2 the Nassau Class AAA softball final at Farmingdale State College on Monday to tie the best-of-three series at one game apiece. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Massapequa trailed for five innings on Monday, but in Game 2 of the Nassau Class AAA championship series, it showed the grit necessary to repeat as county champion.
Second-seeded Massapequa scored five runs in the sixth inning to take its first lead in a 12-10 win over top-seeded Oceanside at Farmingdale State. The win forced a deciding Game 3 on Wednesday.
Sienna Erker was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Massapequa with one out in the bottom of the sixth. Maeve Schiereck hit a liner to centerfield and two errors on the play resulted in Massapequa taking an 11-10 lead. Katy Love added a sacrifice fly.
“Despite what was on the scoreboard, we never got down on ourselves today,” Schiereck said. “I never had a doubt in my mind that we would win this game.”
An error allowed Joanna Byrne to reach first to lead off the seventh for Oceanside. Kaylah Hansen induced a pop-up and a ground ball to shortstop Marissa Scognamiglio, who stepped on second and fired to first for the game-ending double play.
“I made a few bad plays today and had to get out of my head,” Scognamiglio said. “But you just have to pull through. In this game, you’re going to fail more than you’re going to succeed.”
Hailey Bischoff had an RBI double in the first inning. Liana Horan singled and two more runs scored on an error to put Oceanside ahead 3-0. Bischoff’s two-RBI double in the second extended Oceanside’s lead to 5-0.
Schiereck doubled in the second to drive in a run and cut Massapequa’s deficit to 5-4. Erker and Schiereck hit back-to-back RBI doubles in the fourth to bring Massapequa within 8-7.
“[Sunday] we had a tough loss, but we wanted to battle in the final inning. Just to try and put some doubt in their mind,” Schiereck said. “[Monday] we came out and continued to build on good at-bats. Now we’ll be back Wednesday with a chance to keep this going.”
Maggie Nesturrick and pinch hitter Kaitlyn Tompkins each drew a bases-loaded walk to increase Oceanside’s lead to 10-7 in the fifth.
Massapequa swept Oceanside in last year’s county final series on its way to a state final appearance. In 2024, Oceanside defeated Massapequa to earn a county title.
“It’s softball. It’s anyone’s game on any given day,” Massapequa coach Christina Castellani said. “We’re going to be back on Wednesday with a clean slate, ready to go. We have to give 100 percent to come here on Wednesday and play better than Oceanside.”
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.
