Westhampton Beach Softball Team's Playoff Run Ends After Loss At Comsewogue

The Westhampton Beach softball team couldn’t keep the magic going at Comsewogue on Monday.

The 11th-seed Hurricanes and 10th-seed Warriors faced off for the third time this season, having split their two League IV regular season games, and it was the Warriors who took the rubber game when it counted most, 5-1, in an elimination game of the Suffolk County Class A playoffs.

After losing, 3-1, at Kings Park in its playoff opener on May 17, Westhampton Beach responded with a 4-1 victory at eighth-seed Hauppauge this past Friday. Comsewogue, meanwhile, had kept its season going by eliminating fourth-seed Mount Sinai on Friday.

Addison Celi was a big reason why the ’Canes were able to defeat Hauppauge last week, striking out 10 in a complete game effort, but she wasn’t as dominant on Monday against Comsewogue. The eighth-grade pitcher walked nine batters and also hit a batter, which head coach Jeff Doroski said was certainly uncharacteristic of Celi, who had been so steady all season, especially during the team’s second-half swoon in which it won nine of its final 10 to clinch the final playoff spot.

Offensively, Westhampton Beach only had six hits and the one run.

“Addison had a rough day in the circle,” he said. “That’s not her, she’s been pretty steady for us all year, but she’s young and this was a learning experience.

“All good things must come to and end.”

That was much different than on Friday in Hauppauge, when the ’Canes staked themselves to a 3-0 lead after three and a half innings of play. Celi did have to get herself out of a few jams in the back half of the game, starting in the bottom of the fourth when Hauppauge had runners on second and third, but she struck out the final batter of the inning to end the threat.

After Riley McGinness padded the Hurricanes’ lead with an RBI single in the top of the fifth, Hauppauge was threatening again and finally scratched across what was its only run in the bottom of the sixth on a wild pitch by Celi, who came right back to strike out the next batter and limit the damage by stranding another runner on third.

The Eagles then got runners on first and second in their final at bats in the bottom of the seventh, but Celi struck out the final batter of the game to which she and her teammates celebrated as they came off the field.

“She’s an eighth-grader, she pitches like she’s a senior,” Doroski said of his budding young pitcher after Friday’s game. “It’s very rare to see her get rattled or flustered out there. Tough situations she just gets right back in the circle and goes right back to work. She doesn’t let things bother her and everybody behind her feeds off that. I think they’re confident because she’s confident, and then it flows through the whole team. It’s really fun to watch.”

Celi has helped fuel what has been a huge second-half swoon for Westhampton Beach, which had won nine of its final 10 regular season games to reach the playoffs as the 11th and final seed. Celi said that while she certainly feels nerves when she’s pitching, there is also a sort of calmness she finds in being out in the pitching circle.

“When I’m in the circle, I feel like I’m alone by myself and it’s a different feeling to be in the circle,” she explained. “It’s more pressure, but at the same time you just feel like you got to have fun. When that all comes together it doesn’t really bother me. The pressure doesn’t get to me often.”

To only give up one run in a playoff game, a pitcher needs good defense behind her and Celi certainly had that. In the bottom of the fourth, just prior to when Hauppauge put runners on second and third, Kyla Avery made a nice play on a deep fly ball going away from her in center field. She caught the ball just feet away from the fence and had the sense of mind to get the ball back in quickly to the infield with a runner on first base.

Then, just prior to Hauppauge scoring its only run of the game in the sixth, Westhampton Beach senior catcher Lillie Henthorne threw out a runner trying to steal second that senior shortstop Allie Parascandola made a nice play on to catch the ball tailing into the base path but still managing to tag out the runner.

The ’Canes took a little pressure off Celi by scoring the first run of the game in the top of the third when Henthorne drove in freshman Kali Baumiller from third base with a base hit. A sacrifice bunt by Ashley Erbis had moved Baumiller up to scoring position at second base.

Then, in the top of the fourth, Westhampton Beach added to its lead when Baumiller kept the ball just inside the left field foul line for a base hit that drove in a pair of runs to make it a 3-0 ball game. Baumiller finished the game 3 for 3 with a run scored and the two RBIs in what Doroski said was her best game of the season.

The coach said that’s one of the things his team has done so well this season, different players stepping up at different points.

“Kali Baumiller, freshman right fielder, number nine batter, comes in and has the game of her life today. She was unbelievable,” he said. “But they always pick each other up and that’s the best thing to watch with them. They play hard for each other, they always support each other, and if someone is not going good, someone picks them up. Kali today had her best offensive day, and we needed it.”

Baumiller said she just wanted to come up big in support of Celi.

“I really went into it thinking I’ve got to help out Addison. She’s one of my best friends and I just needed to do good, it was in my brain. It feels great.”

What is overall a young team will have to say goodbye to four seniors, which includes starters in Henthorne and Parascandola, as well as Sarah Brosnan and Gabby DeLuca. But with the majority of the team returning, and a playoff win now under its belt, Doroski will be looking to push this team ever further next season. He said it was good for last year’s team to get into the playoffs. It took a step forward by winning a playoff game this year and now the sky is the limit going forward.

“I told them at the end, I’m super proud of them. It’s been a privilege and an honor to coach them, especially Allie and Lillie, whose contributions this year throughout their years in the program have been great,” he said. “It’s unfortunate it had to come to and end. They fought really hard all year and made some noise. I think people are going to look at Westhampton softball a bit differently over the next few years. We’ll be back.”