A Perfect Start: Westhampton Beach Softball Tops Sayville, Celi Throws First-Ever No Hitter at East Hampton

It’s no longer a secret — the Westhampton Beach softball team is pretty good.

The Hurricanes defeated host Sayville, 17-9, on Monday in what was a convincing win over what were the Class A county finalists a year ago in the Golden Flashes. Westhampton Beach was coming off an 8-0 victory at East Hampton on Friday, in which freshman pitcher Addison Celi threw her first ever no hitter, and a 12-0 victory at home over Rocky Point to open the season on March 29.

Westhampton Beach head coach Jeff Doroski agreed that after Monday’s victory, and his team’s overall strong start to the season, opposing teams will most likely not take his team lightly anymore.

“I don’t think people will look past us anymore at this point,” he said on Monday night. “Addison’s name is out there now as a legit pitcher, and the way we hit, we hit the ball hard today.”

Sayville took a 2-0 lead in the first inning and maintained that lead through four innings, until freshman Katie Burke led off the fifth inning with a home run that opened the flood gates for the ’Canes, who went on to score eight runs in the inning. They then tacked on an additional eight runs in the sixth. To Sayville’s credit, the Golden Flashes scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth, but Celi and the ’Canes came right back in the seventh and shut down any hope of a comeback with a one-two-three inning to close out the game.

Burke finished 3 for 4 with her roundtripper and three RBIs while Celi was an offensive weapon as well, going 3 for 4 with two runs and two RBIs. Kali Baumiller, a sophomore, continued her strong start to the season offensively by going 3 for 5, which included a double with two runs scored and a pair of RBIs. Kayla Spanbock, a junior, provided a big lift at the bottom of the order by going 2 for 5 scoring a pair of runs and also driving in a pair and came up with a big timely hit, which has been the team’s top quality early on.

“With runners on base last year, we couldn’t get timely hits. This year, at least early on, we’re stringing hits together,” Doroski said. “Everybody’s getting involved, and that’s the fun part of it. We’re just building on what we’ve been doing, and I like how we’re playing. I think we’re seeing this growth of this group we’ve had a for a couple of years now.

“It’s early, and I know how quickly things can turn, so we’re going to take things game by game,” he continued. “One thing I continue to stress, because we really do have a young team with no seniors, is that we only need to worry about us and not worry about what the other team has or who it is. If we can just concentrate on us, and what we can do, well, I think we can do well as a team.”

Celi, who is already in her third year on varsity as a freshman, has pitched her fair share of one and two hitters along the way, but she had never, even in travel ball, pitched a no hitter until this past Friday in East Hampton. Facing a strong, well-coached team, Celi struck out 16, didn’t allow a walk and only four batters put the ball in play against her. Although a runner did manage to reach base on an error in the bottom of the seventh, the ’Canes were awarded a double play on an interference call allowing Celi to face the minimum of 21 batters throughout the game.

“She’ll be a special one down the road for sure,” Doroski said. “We just need to keep her healthy. She’s been working a lot on her change. It’s still not quite there. But once she adds a third pitch, she’s only going to be that much better, and she’ll get there.”

It helped that the offense provided Celi with a four run lead before she even took the circle. Sophomore Elliejean Burke went 2 for 4, both bunt singles, and scored both times she reached base. Her classmate Antonella Russo went 2 for 3 with a double, single and drove in three runs. Celi helped her own cause going 1 for 1 with a pair of sacrifice flies.

One of the things the team talked about heading into the season was starting strong and they did exactly that in what was a run-ruled, five-inning victory over Rocky Point in their season opener. Ashley Erbis, a junior, went 2 for 3 and reached base five times including a walk and hit by pitch, a single and double and three RBIs. Baumiller went 1 for 2 with a double, two runs scored and two RBIs.

Westhampton Beach looked to keep its strong start going in a nonleague game against Kellenberg on Tuesday and a league game against Comsewogue on Wednesday. The ’Canes then have an entire week off before they host crosstown rival Eastport-South Manor on Wednesday, April 12, at 10 a.m.