For the first time this year, the All Systems Mets took a big lead into the final innings and held on to win 21-8. Everyone on the team had a great game both offensively and defensively. Mike Marsigliano went 5 for 5 and had three RBIs to receive the game ball but he was not the only one that contributed to the win. Matt Williams, Matt Deluca and Cory Williams all went 4 for 6 and drove in seven runs. Anthony Fiorenti and Brandon Lowey both went 4 for 5 and drove in six runs. Clement Yu, Sammy Wilbur and Billy Campbell all went 3 for 5 and drove in five runs. It was a well rounded game in which everyone played great. I think it is really coming together nicely. Thanks, guys, for a great time and game.Another great team effort by the Lazio Pizza Bears. The Bears squeezed out a win against a tough F and F Roofing team. The Bears kept it close with outstanding defensive plays by Brendon Loizzo, Paul Conte, James Clark and Anthony Zammit. The Lazio Pizza Bears then put together a fifth inning rally scoring four runs. Leading the charge offensively were Neil Bisciello, Michael Fucci, Michael Santalesa, Ed Daly and Eric Knudsen. The Bears then held off an offensive charge by F and F Roofing in the last inning to win this close game. Way to go Bears! The Mountain Star Raiders had their best game of the year in fielding, pitching and hitting. The star of the game was Mike Schacor, who started the game at shortstop and set the tone of the game with a great play at short. Mike then pitched two great innings and hit two over the outfielders' heads for a double and triple. Joey Venezia also made a great play at third for the second out of the first inning. Joey hit the ball hard and had an important RBI. John Amico hit the hall hard adding an important RBI. Frank D'Introno played great, had two walks and a stolen base. John Karhalis walked, stole a base and scored a run on heads up base running. John Morano played great at catcher and added a walk, a stolen base, RBI and a run scored. John also made a great catch in left center on a high fly ball. John Ligouri added a hard single and knocked in an important run. Steve Bartoloni walked two times and played great defense. John Ricardi singled, walked and stole two bases. Jamie Liebowitz made a great jumping catch of a line drive over his head at first base and just missed completing a double play with John Amico covering second base. Jamie also had a single and a walk. Matt Morrisey played unbelievable at first base catching a hard line drive and jumping up high in the air to get a throw to first getting an important out. Matt also had a double and a single and three RBIs. Matt Santalesa pitched two great innings, had two singles, a walk, three stolen bases and an RBI. Brian Ernst hit a ball over the left centerfielder's head for a double and an RBI, then added two singles, two stolen bases, and three runs scored. Mike Graham also pitched two great innings, had a single, walk and two stolen bases.The rain finally stopped and it was "Play Ball" time again for the Merillon Boys Minors on Tuesday, May 12. The CFS Bank "Blue Bombers" lost a tough game to Mountain Star, 13-6. D.J. Gerowski led the attack for CFS Bank with two solid doubles. DJ's hitting, as well as his effort as a first time pitcher earned him a game ball. Steve Cialone and Marty Kurasz also had two hits for CFS Bank. Tommy Brennan chipped in with a single and some solid defensive play on the infield. The Blue Bombers hit the ball, but were stopped by some great defensive play from Mountain Star.

The Montain Star Raiders were out-hit by a good Little Shoppe of Flowers team losing 13-4. Th pitching stars were Matt Morrissey (three great innings), John Amico and Jamie Liebowitz. John Ligouri continued his hitting streak with a double. Mike Graham also had a great double, followed by a huge double by Mike Schacor. Jamie Liebowitz added a hard single. John Karahalis hit the ball hard in all his at bats and played a great game. Steve Bartoloni, Frank D'Introno and John Morano played great games in the field and at the bat.

Little Shoppe of Flowers picked up their fourth win against a very tough Mountain Star team. Sean McGonigle was the game MVP. He doubled in the first and his great pitching in the fifth kept the game out of reach. Teams just can't keep those Kassoff boys off the bases. Both Chris and Robby each had a pair of hits. Michael McHale, Chris Lodise and Robby Kassoff all pitched great. Michael struck out the only three batters he faced. Girish Thadhani, Chris Ganz, Jonathan Nizzo and Nick Obidlenzo's heads up plays made it a great victory for the Little Shoppe of Flowers.

The CFS Bank Blue Bombers finally lived up to their nickname and broke out of a hitting slump with a 20-4 win over Meldon Silverman in the Merillon Boys Minors division, Saturday, May 16. The Blue Bombers scored 14 runs in the top of the sixth inning to pull away in what had been a tight, well-played game by both teams. Stephen Kostel started the offensive attack in the fourth ining with a mammoth three run homer. Stephen also had two singles, a walk and scord three runs, while playing a solid game in the field as well. In his best game of the year, Stephen was awarded the game ball! Every player contributed to the offensive attack with at least one hit. Steve Cialone, Anthony Regalbuto, DJ Gerowski, Marty Kurasz, Chris DiCerbo, Tommy Brennan, John Phair and Tim Campbell each had two hits. Mike Lieber and Timmy Hanna each added key hits for the Blue Bombers. Chris DiCerbo did not allow a run as he pitched three solid innings to end the game for CFS Bank. Great first time pitching effort from Marty Kurasz, who came on to pitch the third and did not allow a run.

In a game that yielded only three hits and plenty of defense, Cantor Contracting Mariners defeated Williston Park by a score of 3 to 2.

Heads up base running by Todd Mandl, after drawing a walk, allowed for the Mariners first run in the second inning. Excellent fielding by Chris Jaronczyk (2B) and Joey Birsall (1B) held Williston Park scoreless until their third inning when they scored two runs on one hit.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Mariners came alive again at the plate. Jason Fishman drew a walk and scored on a rope that was hit to right center by Kyle Reich which he legged into a "dust filled" double.

The Williston Park fifth and sixth innings went for naught on some of the best defense efforts of the Mariners' season thus far.

Fifth inning: Long fly ball to center field, Stephen Rampulla, over his shoulder, makes the catch. One out. Sharp ground ball to shortstop Kyle Sherder...stabbed in the hole...over to first...two outs. Infield pop fly...Kyle again...three outs. He was amazing!

Sixth inning: Ground ball to short stop Kyle Reich, over to first...one out. Short bloop inside the first baseline, first baseman Chris Raulli, diving makes the catch...robbed..two outs. Pitcher Todd Mandl Ks the last hope for Williston Park.

Pitching by Kyle Reich (three innings, one hit - seven Ks) and Todd Mandl (three innings, one hit - three Ks) was tremendous.

Game Summary: The Merillon Stingers finally broke through with their first win of the season! In a fine fight with the Merillon Devil Rays, the Stingers just had it all come together when led by excellent pitching by Billy Campbell and Mike Lanza and fine defensive playing by Steve Gilroy, Michael Marano, Eric Urso, Jerry Campbell, Manaj Thadhini and Mat Williams. The offense was just awesome. A hitting bonanza was led by Sam Pizzichillo and Jimmy Campbell that took the team to a 14-1 victory. The celebration was carried further when Mr. Vinny B. Lanza bought ice cream for the entire team. Thanks Vin! See ya next game! The Golden Knights defeated a strong NHP team 12-5 on a nice night for softball on May 15. A second inning rally staked starting pitcher Jessica Connaughton to a 6-2 lead led by hard hit RBI singles by Vivian Quan, Melissa DeMarco and Nicole Palmer. Jessica pitched three strong innings and turned the lead over to Kelly Geus, who held the NHP team off for one inning punctuated by an inning ending strikeout. Kelly was assisted with a few remarkable defensive plays by Caitlin Clark at first base. The Knights then erupted for six additional runs as the girls batted around in the fifth inning highlighted by Marlene Junker's line shot single. Tara Marsigliano came on to close out the game and ended the contest with her trademark strikeout pitch. Kudos to all of the girls defense for keeping the Knights in the game until they could break it open, you played smart and played hard.

Game Summary: The Garden City Park/New Hyde Park Teacher's Association "Orange Crush" defeatd Mineola 10-7 on a hot afternoon. Melissa Flaherty pitched three perfect innings along with Diana Echevarria who pitched two scoreless innings. Our closer Julianne Schaefer shut the door on a big hitting Mineola lineup in the last inning. The big story of this game was the aggressive fielding by birthday girl Kerri Schaefer at second base which kept us in the game. The Orange Crush team defense was outstanding.

Our offense was again on the move with big hits from Alyse Joseph, Danielle Losonci, Jessica Resnick, and monica Soluri. Alicia DeMarco and Suzie Jozkowski were daredevils on the basepaths with stolen bases accompanied by fantastic sliding. Hats off to our girls for playing shorthanded and coming up with another impressive victory.

In a very exciting come from behind game, Casandra Malizia knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning to lead New Hyde Park Funeral Home 10-9 over New Hyde Park. Casandra also made great plays throwing runners out at first from her position at third base getting two of the three outs in the last inning, earning the award for star of the game. Jessica Schacor and Stefanie Weitzel were the pitching stars. Christine DeLuca and Stephanie Ligouri played great at their catcher's position. The girls set the tone early with Christina Lipinski throwing out two runners from second and Kaitlyn Kerrane throwing out two runners from third base. Corrine Tisei also made a grat play at short and Jessica Schacor handled her three chances perfectly. Stefanie Weitzel played first base and handled every throw perfectly. Kathryn Leotta caught a fly in right and made a smooth play at second base. Christina Deluca had two singles and a walk. Kaitlyn Kerrane had a single and got robbed on her other hits. Jessica Schacor had four hard hits and two runs scored. Corrine Tisei added three solid hits and three runs scored. Stefanie Weitzel had three great hits. Kathryn Leotta had a walk and hit the ball hard in her other at bats, only good defense robbed her. Stephanie Ligouri had three clutch hits. Christina Lipinski hit the ball hard in all her at bats and scored two runs.The New Hyde Park Funeral Home girls played their best game of the year raising their record to 4-1, with an 8-1 win over Port Washington. Christina Lipinski made an unbelievable catch of a hard rising line drive in short centerfield. The crowd from both teams gave her a standing ovation. Corrine Tisei pitched for the first time this year and did a fabulous job not allowing a run in three innings pitched. Corrine fielded her position perfecting catch a low line drive hit right back to her, catching a high fly and turning it into a double play with a great throw to first. Corrine added a single and a triple (rocket shot down the third base line). Maria Concilio made her pitching debut and pitched super only allowing one hit in two innings. Stefanie Weitzel pitched the last inning earning a save. Stefanie added a walk and an RBI. Cassandra Malizia walked, stole two bases with great slide and scored a run. Karen Ernst walked, singled, had an RBI and played great at catcher. Christine DeLuca had a single and did a great job catching. Meaghan Dunn again laid down a perfect bunt for a hit and was excellent behind the plate. Megan Pate had a single and played a great first base. She threw out a runner trying to stretch a single into a double with Chrissy Colon making a beautiful tag. Chrissy also added a hard single. Stephanie Ligouri added a walk and an RBI. Kathryn Leotta added a hard single and played a great all around game. Caitlin Miller hit the ball hard in her at bats and made a smooth play at second base. I can't wait for the next game!

With Southside Carting trailing Pace Pharmacy by five runs, JeanMarie Zarzycki came in to pitch in the fifth inning and shut down a power hitting Pace Pharmacy team in the final three innings. The comeback was led by Danielle Vitabile (three hits, four RBIs), with a big two run double, and singles by Kara Tloczkowski (four hits, two RBIs, three runs). Karen Trebing (two hits, two runs) and Shaina Jordan who drove in the tying run. Katie Rhindress singled in the winning run in the top of the seventh and Jean Marie Zarzycki drove in an insurance run. In the bottom of the fifth there was a single to right field. Stephanie Vitabile fielded the ball and threw to Jean Marie who threw to home to Shaina who made a great block of homeplate to put the tag on the runner. Christina O'Sullivan (two hits) made a great catch going to her knees of a low line drive in left field to end the game. There was also good hitting and defense by Amanda Henrich, Jennifer Ligouri and Diana Ryan.

A well played game by both teams, with Southside winning 12-10. Danielle Young pitched a superb two innings also drawing two base on balls and a double. Katie Raffety, Amy Rostholder, Rachel Silverman and Nicole DeLuca all added offensive spark. Jillian Berrios added four hits and some outstanding play in the outfield robbing a sure extra base hit with an over the shoulder catch.

The sun was shining bright this day, but only on the third base dugout for Glen Oaks as they easily handled the girls from Pace Pharmacy. Danielle Young had two hits for the Pacers with additional hits from Claire Casaccio, Krystal Cavaseno, and Stacy Denison. Great defensive plays at second base by Nicole DeLuca handling four hard hit balls in a row.In the second game of this doubleheader, things did not go any better. Amy Rostholder did a great job behind the plate for her catching debut, and Kierstin Budjinski showed her pitching for the first time this season. Katie Rafferty played a great second base and right field. The hitting of Krystal Caveseno and Jillian Berrios each with doubles, Michelle Nowakowski, Stacy Denison each with singles, and two hits by Nicole DeLuca was all the offense the Pacers could muster against a tough Glen Oaks team.