Gunnel's 11 Strikeouts, Game-Winning Hit Lift Mepham Softball Over Massapequa

Seven innings wasn't merely enough for Monday afternoon's Class AA-I game between the Massapequa  Chiefs and the Mepham  Pirates, as the two teams took it to 10 innings before Mepham prevailed 7-6 on a game-winning double from pitcher Victoria Gunnels.

The two teams were tied 1-1 after two innings, but errors by the Pirates in the third and fourth innings allowed Massapequa to open up a 5-2 lead. Leading the way for the Chiefs was catcher Monica Capolongo, who went 3-for-5 with two RBIs.

Mepham had runners on first and second with no out in both the fifth and sixth innings, but could not get any runs home.

Down three in the bottom of the seventh, the Pirates loaded the bases with one out before Alexis Ferraro drove in two runs with a single. Mepham tied the game up on a Massapequa error which brought the two teams to extra innings.

After two scoreless extra innings, the international speed-up rule place went into effect. The rule places a runner on second to start each inning.

A bunt single from Capolongo drove in the speed-up runner for the Chiefs in the top of the 10th inning and gave them a 6-5 lead.

In the bottom half of the inning, a quick error put runners on first and third with nobody out before Mepham third baseman Claudia Law tied the game up with a single. One batter later, Gunnels stepped up and drove a double over the head of the center fielder and won the game for the Pirates.

“It was a terrific effort by our girls and our pitchers," Massapequa head coach Steve Donovan said after the loss. "We didn’t execute a couple defensive plays and gave a pretty good team too many chances. I’m real proud of the way they played, but you can’t give a good team too many extra outs.”

Gunnels struck out 11 on the mound for Mepham and pitched all 10 innings before driving in the winning run. Freshman Toni Valeriano went 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI for the Lady Pirates.

"I think everyone put in an equal amount of effort -- the bats came through, the fielding came through, and as a pitcher it's a lot easier to pitch knowing you have a team behind you to back you up," Gunnels said.

Score: Mepham 7, Massapequa 6

Records: Mepham 4-0 (3-0); Massapequa 0-3 (0-3)

Heroes: For the Lady Chiefs, Capolongo kept delivering for her team and gave them a chance to win. She scored the game's first run and drove in Massapequa's last run in the 10th.

Gunnels was a huge factor on the mound for Mepham. She gave up just three earned runs and struck out 11.

"She's pitched all four games, that's [more than] 30 innings in four games," Mepham head coach Mike Muscara said about his pitcher. "... She gutted it out, she did what she had to do, and the kids backed her up."

Gunnels' RBI double in the 10th was the icing on the cake.

"It feels great," she said after the win. "I'm going to college to play softball and it's always great going into college with that feeling that you did great in high school too."

Turning Point: The bottom of the seventh inning showed that the Lady Pirates had plenty of fight left in them. Mepham's patience at the plate helped the team survive late and turned the tides on the Chiefs.

"That's the sign of a good team: never quit, never say die," Muscara said. "... We're playing good defense and getting timely hitting, and today the kids showed their mettle. They didn't give up, they weren't down on themselves and I'm very proud of the way they came back. It was a great win."

Quotable: "They came back, they never quit," Muscara said. "... It was a struggle today, but sometimes you don't play well and you win, so that's the most important thing."

Bottom Line: With the loss, Massapequa drops to 0-3 in league play, but the team has been in every game this season and was just two outs away from a big win against Mepham.

“We did a lot of little things well," Donovan said. "We got some bunts down when we needed them, moved the runners over, put them in scoring position and got the hits. We got a few bleeder hits that we don’t normally get today to put us in a winning position.”

On the other side of the field, Mepham has now improved to 3-0 in a tough Class AA-I and 4-0 overall. The Lady Pirates didn't get discouraged after failing to score in the fifth and sixth innings, and their persistence paid off in the end.

Who's Next? April 6, Massapequa vs. Long Beach, 4:30 p.m.; April 6, Mepham vs. MacArthur, 4:45 p.m.

Box Score