Audia sisters lead Mount Sinai over Bayport-Blue Point
Mt. Sinai's Alex Audia crushes the game winning home run over the left field fence against Bayport-Blue Point in a Suffolk league VIII game, Tuesday, May 2, 2023 at Bayport. Credit: George A Faella
Alex Audia jumped and let out a scream as she rounded second base.
Audia had a good reason to celebrate — she had just launched a go-ahead home run well beyond the leftfield fence to lead off the top of the seventh inning. The solo blast was the difference in Mount Sinai’s 4-3 win over host Bayport-Blue Point in Suffolk League VIII softball on Tuesday.
“I was nervous because I knew that we needed to score that inning if we wanted to win,” Audia said. “I just look for my pitch and once I see it, I go for it. I saw that pitch come in and I had to swing.”
The sophomore’s third homer of the season helped Mount Sinai (12-3) overtake Bayport-Blue Point (11-3) for first place in Suffolk VIII.
It came right after her sister, Amanda, escaped a jam in the bottom of the sixth.
With the bases loaded, Nikki Echevarria smoked a ground ball right back at Amanda, who stopped it with her torso and threw home to get an out. Then catcher Josie Alfano fired to first base to complete the inning-ending 1-2-3 double play.
“I play second base too, so I just threw my body in front of it and I wanted to make sure we got at least one out,” Amanda said.
“I work on that with Amanda every day to make sure my transfer is right,” Alfano added. “I have enough confidence in myself and in Amanda that she will put the throw where it needs to be so that I can finish off the double play.”
Earlier in the inning, Erin McMahon scored on a single to rightfield by Avery Crank to tie the score at 3 for Bayport-Blue Point.
The Phantoms had a chance to score in the fifth inning, as Renee McGowan batted with runners on first and third, but Alfano again showed off her arm as she caught Kristin Kloss stealing second to end the inning.
“She has a cannon for an arm and she doesn’t think, she just reacts,” Amanda said. “I’m glad I don’t have to run the bases against her.”
Alfano tied the game in the top of the fifth with a single up the middle to score Daniella Sofia from second base.
“I popped out my first two at-bats, so I thought about a hit-and-run and swinging down on the ball,” Alfano said. “I knew that Daniella is fast enough to get home on a single.”
Then, Alex plated Alfano with an RBI groundout to shortstop to give Mount Sinai a 3-2 lead.
When the two teams faced on March 31, the Mustangs took an 8-3 loss.
“We’ve had trouble finishing this type of a game,” coach Jamie Apicella said. “The girls showed that they’ve learned from some of those tough losses we had earlier in the season.”
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
