Fast and Flawless: Schreiber Shuts Out Freeport

If only major league games were this fast.

In summer-like conditions, Danielle Leibowitz brought the heat, pitching a complete-game shutout as the Lady Vikings shut down Freeport, 7-0, in league action. The win kept Schreiber perfect on the year at 4-0 while outscoring its oppenents, 55-5.

The game took under 90 minutes to complete. That's what happens when your ace pitcher keeps the other team off the bases. Leibowitz scattered five hits over seven innings, walking three and striking out five.

"She was so poised out there, she trusted the defense behind her and they supported her really well," coach Eric Sutz said of his star pitcher. "She threw strikes, that's what she's been doing,"

The performance was the latest chapter in Leibowitz's comeback year. The senior missed all of last season with a broken non-pitching elbow.

"I basically kept the same motion I was using since it was working," Leibowitz said. "So I used the same [motion] throughout the game."

Leibowitz's outing was in sharp contrast to that of Freeport pitcher Jaritza Jimenez. Jimenez was wild from the outset, walking freshman Sara Marinelli to lead off the game. Marinelli eventually came around to score. Jimenez walked seven on the day.

In the second, Marinelli stroked an RBI single, and left fielder Linda Kim was hit by a pitch to force home the Vikings' third run of the game. Kim went 2-for-2 with an RBI.

Schreiber would break the game open in the fifth. Alex Caprariello, fresh off pitching a no-hitter in her first career varsity start, hit a run-scoring single, and Emma Horowitz drew a pinch-hit walk to force in another run, chasing Jimenez from the game.

"Be aggressive, but intelligently aggressive," Sutz said of his preferred plate approach. "Zone in to the area you want the pitch and if it's not there, even if it's a strike, let it go — you'll get another opportunity."

Sutz also praised his defense, which handled everything that came their way. Kim hauled in a deep drive off the bat of Freeport's Kassandra De LaRosa with two runners on in the fifth, ending the Red Devils' best scoring chance of the day.

"It's a veteran defense. We've been working hard at practice with it," Sutz said. "We have a versatile team. Everybody can play a couple positions and it shows when they go and do what they did today."

Schreiber gets right back on the diamond on Thursday, as the Lady Vikings head to Great Neck South to make up a game that was rained out during spring break. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

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