Delaney Vitzthum dominates in North Babylon's win over Lindenhurst
North Babylon pitcher Delaney Vitzthum struck out eight and didn't allow a hit until the sixth inning at Lindenhurst on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. Credit: James Escher
Delaney Vitzthum hasn’t pitched much for North Babylon in the past few seasons, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that so far this year.
Vitzthum struck out eight as North Babylon defeated host Lindenhurst, 16-1, in six innings on Wednesday morning in Suffolk II softball.
“She hasn’t really pitched. She didn’t pitch last year or the year before,” North Babylon coach John Egan said. “But she’s a senior whose ready to take it to the next level.”
Vizthum threw five scoreless innings before giving up her first hit with one out in the sixth to Danielle Steinmann. A run scored in the inning, but Vitzthum got a strikeout and a weak pop up to close out the game.
“It definitely helped me to watch other pitchers these last few years,” Vitzthum said. “I saw what worked for them and started to understand what my coach would want me to do in certain situations.”
Megan Wegel contributed three hits, two RBIs and three runs. She drove in Madison Picerno for the game’s first run with a booming double to the fence in the first inning. Ashlee Seidler followed that up with a RBI double.
“I was seeing the ball really well, I had a lot of confidence in myself,” Wegel said. “I wanted to help out my team with some big hits, score some runs.”
Twenty-mph wind gusts and a moist field made the playing conditions less than ideal, but the surehanded fielding of North Babylon showed no ill effects.
“We’re very strong defensively. I had most of my girls return, they’ve been doing this for four or five years,” Egan said. “They’ve jelled together well and they’re a hard-working group.”
North Babylon (5-0) is clicking on all cylinders early on, picking up where it left off after a 20-win season a year ago. So far, the Bulldogs have outscored their opponents 70-9 in five games.
“We can definitely become league champs again and hopefully this time county champs,” Vitzthum said. “I believe in every girl on this team, I know each of them can do great things.”
The team has averaged 17 wins the past three seasons and earned the number one seed in the playoffs last season but was eliminated in the second round.
“I’m expecting to go pretty far," Wegel said. "I want to win a league championship for a fifth year in a row, but I think we can do more than that. I want to go as far as possible."
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.
