The New Hyde Park girls softball team kept its relentless offense rolling, shutting out Canada 16-0 in their second game of the Little League Softball World Series in Portland on Friday afternoon.
New Hyde Park scored three runs in the first inning, with leadoff hitter Kayla Fitzpatrick stroking a soft single, stealing second and scoring on a single by pitcher Melissa Ward. Ann Grimshaw followed with a double to drive in Ward and Maggie Donnelly followed with a line drive single to left to send Grimshaw home.
In the second inning, New Hyde Park scored four more runs. Speedster Emma Nidermaier hit a line drive single to left, and stole second base and third base in front of a single by Jenny Hickey. Grimshaw struck another double, driving in another run, and Donnelly struck a double to score Grimshaw. Donnelly eventually scored the fourth run of the inning.
In the third inning, Kay Tubridy walked, Nicole Kuzler singled and Fitzpatrick cleared the bases with a long home run to make the score 10-0.
Ward pitched the first three innings and Fitzpatrick pitched the fourth inning to complete the shuout as the “mercy” rule was invoked.
The victory over Canada was the second consecutive win for New Hyde Park in the tourney, which trumped a team from Philippines representing the Asia Pacific region 11-4 on Thursday.
“We hit the ball very well in both games,” said head coach Tom Donnelly “We knew this was going to be an easy one. The Canada team was very weak.”
In the Thursday game, New Hyde Park scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning when Fitzpatrick led off with a triple and scored on a bunt by Hickey. Hickey, who reached on an error, stole second and scored on an error. New Hyde Park added five runs in the second.
Asia Pacific rallied and pulled within 7-4 in the fourth inning, but New Hyde Park added four more runs in the fifth inning.
Hickey allowed four runs, eight hits and struck out five in the six-inning game. Gabby Morales had two hits, and Ann Grimshaw, Maggie Donnelly, Emma Nidermaier and Hickey each scored two runs. Asia Pacific committed eight errors in the game.
New Hyde Park will spend its off day tomorrow playing with a team of handicapped players in an exhibition match. Donnelly expects their next game against New Mexico on Sunday night to be a challenging match-up.
“They’re tough,” Donnelly said.
The New Hyde Park squad, comprised of the top 11- and 12-year-old players from the New Hyde Park Little League, won the East Region championship on July 27. That made them the first Long Island team to qualify for the World Series since a team from Islip made it in to the tourney in 1993. No New York team has ever won the tournament.
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