Cougars Softball Runs Win Streak Up to Six With Victory Over Port Washington

You don't win six games in a row without getting good starting pitching.

And Kennedy's Sam Finkel provided just that yesterday afternoon at Guggenheim Elementary School in Port Washington.

Finkel pitched seven strong innings while allowing just three runs on six hits and striking out 10 batters as the Lady Cougars defeated the Port Washington Lady Vikings, 6-3.

The victory gave Kennedy its sixth win in a row, and moved them to 8-1 in conference play.  Of those nine games, the Cougars have allowed three runs or less in eight of them.

"We played a good game," Finkel said. "We made a couple of errors in the field, but you have to keep your composure on the mound and keep striking them out. You have to depend on your defense behind you if you want to pitch a good game."

The Cougars took advantage of some sloppy Port Washington defense early. After Sarah Siegler singled and advanced to second on an error, she advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a throwing error by Vikings pitcher Sara Marinelli.

Kennedy continued to tack it on in the second. After Finkel reached base, Alex Kushner hit a double to drive her in. Jessie Eiseman immediately followed with a double of her own to score Kushner. Eiseman then came around to score on an RBI groundout by Carly Thea.

"It was a long game," Thea said. "But we kept our focus.  Everybody communicated well, and when they were coming back in the end, we adjusted and we stayed in there."

The Vikings got on the board in the bottom of the second. After three straight singles by Emma Horowitz, Janice Havasy, and Jenna Lipman, Marinelli drew a bases loaded walk to drive in a run and cut the deficit to 4-1.

The Cougars got the run back in the top half of the third. After Gabbi Calia and Brittany Venezia each singled, Eiseman drove in another run with an RBI groundout.

Kennedy added its last run in the top of the sixth off a Heather Hulkower RBI fielder's choice to make it 6-1.

Port Washington refused to go down without a fight in the seventh. It was Kennedy's turn to play sloppy defense, as a couple errors led to two Lady Vikings runs. After loading the bases with two outs, Horowitz stepped to the plate as the winning run. However, she grounded out to third base to end the game.

"Losing is obviously no fun," Port Washington coach Eric Sutz said. "But I'm proud of the girls. We played a complete game and we finished best we could. We were just lacking that one hit to get us over the hump."

It wasn't pretty at times, but Kennedy coach Katie Speiss was pleased with the victory nonetheless.

"We came out a little flat," she said. "Mentally, I just don't think we were in it at the beginning, but then we stepped it up. But I think now they know how important it is to be mentally ready for a game. We got some big hits and Finkel pitched well."

The Lady Cougars will look to extend their winning streak when they host Hempstead tomorrow at 4:30 pm.