Kennedy Softball Displays Surging Offense to Defeat Calhoun

The Kennedy Lady Cougars softball team rebounded from a loss against Hicksville last week to defeat district rival Calhoun on Thursday afternoon at Calhoun High School, 18-9.

The Lady Cougars (8-5 overall, 8-3) currently stand in third place in Conference AA-II as the Lady Colts (4-10 overall, 2-9) dropped to sixth place with the loss.  

Jamie Demmett and Heather Hulkower both went 3-for-5 with four RBIs for Kennedy. Carly Thea, Stephanie Bauman, Lauren Sustad and Gabi Calia all collected four hits in the win.  

Thea got the offense started for Kennedy early in the first inning with a solo home run. In the top of the second inning, Demmett and Thea added to the run tally with an RBI each as the Lady Cougars led the Colts 5-0.  

Ashley Lowerre hit an RBI single for Calhoun in the bottom of the second and a second run came home to score on a throwing error to make the score 5-2. Kennedy pushed their lead wide open again in the third with a five-run inning, capped off by an RBI single by Bauman.  

Trailing 10-2, Calhoun posted a big six-run inning in the bottom of the third highlighted by a two-run single by Danielle Losee. After Kennedy added another run in the fifth inning, L.T. Trimarco got it right back for Calhoun with an RBI triple to left-center field.  

However, Kennedy outscored Calhoun 7-0 in the final two innings to put the game out of reach. Demmett hit a two run single in the sixth and Bauman hit a two-run home run along with a two-run double from Sustad in the top of the seventh to wrap up the scoring in a big 18-9 win.  

“I was impressed with how our team battled back today against a tough team in Kennedy,” Calhoun head coach Jason Boland said. “One thing that I was proud of with my team all year in how they never give up. We almost did it here again but they were a good team and why they’ll be in the playoffs.” 

Heroes: A number of Lady Cougars batters stepped up on offense against Calhoun. Carly Thea sent an early message with her solo home run in the first inning along with her command of the outfield on defense.  

Turning Point: When Jamie Demmett hit a two-run single in the top of the sixth, it stretched the Kennedy lead to 13-9 en route to the nine-run win.  

Quotable: “We came out on top, so that is what counts the most. When things got shaky, we were able to capitalize and get the outs,” Kennedy head coach Katie Speiss said. “We didn’t lose composure when Calhoun kept battling back and we still pulled it out.”  

Bottom Line: Kennedy will advance to the playoffs once their regular season concludes seeded behind Hicksville and Oceanside coming out of the conference.

Calhoun will have a chance to reach as high as fifth place but will ultimately fall short of the playoffs.  

Key Stat: The 18 runs scored by Kennedy was the most they put up in any game this season.  

Who’s Next: Kennedy @ Island Trees, May 9, 4:30 p.m.; Calhoun vs. Herricks, May 5, 4:30 p.m.  

Box Score:

WP: S.Finkel (K)

LP: G.Saladiro (C)