Hewlett Out-Hits Lady Rams Softball

The Lady Rams softball team struggled at the plate Friday afternoon, scoring only one run in their loss to the Lady Bulldogs of Hewlett High School.

Hewlett got on the board first against West Hempstead in Conference 3 matchup on April 29. Their centerfielder, Ricki Stumacher, got on base with a walk by Rams pitcher Laura Boehm. She then proceeded to steal second and third base.

Bulldogs shortstop Alexandra Gioia followed up with a grounder down the middle of the field to send Stumacher home, giving the Lady Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.

Hewlett threatened again in top of the third after a double by Nicole Rizzo and a single by Stumacher. LadyGioia then hit a hard line drive at Rams third baseman Noreen White. White stuck out her glove, making a beautiful catch to strand the runners on base ending the inning.

The Lady Bulldogs loaded the bases in the top of the fourth after a single by Hannah Becker and a few costly fielding errors by the Rams. This time Hewlett took advantage, scoring two more runs to take a 3-0 lead.

West Hempstead rebounded in the bottom of the fourth off of a double by Noreen White and a monster shot over the leftfielders head by senior Santina Nikolaidis. It put the Lady Rams on the board with their first run.

In the top of the fifth,  Gioia and Corinn Vargas got on base with walks and  Julie Miller than hit a shot over the shortstops head, scoring both players. The Lady Bulldogs were back up by four runs, 5-1, a lead they held throughout the rest of the game.

Hewlett pitcher Mackie Sperry had another good outing recording five strikeouts in seven innings.

"Mackie pitched very well for us today," said Coach Brett Kornblum. "We also had a big day from our centerfielder [Ricki Stumacher] who made three big catches."

Kornblum was also impressed with the teams offensive play.

"Our catcher [Corinn Vargas] had a triple and we did pretty well batting overall."

Lady Rams head coach Chris Van Kovics would like to see more offensive production out of his players.

"The biggest issue is our struggling bats," said Van Kovics. "We need to get more people on base so our batters don't always feel like they need to get the big hit to spark our offense. We need some walks or some steals. Everybody's pressing and it puts more pressure on our batters."

West Hempstead is now 3-6 in conference play and will travel to Valley Stream North on Wednesday. Hewlett is 3-6 and will play at home against Valley Stream North on Tuesday at 4 p.m.