Lady Vikings Tame Tigers Again

Sometimes, things are as they seem in sports. The Schreiber varsity softball team entered Saturday on a six-game losing streak, but about to face winless Hempstead, whom they crushed 22-0 earlier this year. Would the Lady Vikings take them lightly?

Not a chance.

For the second time, eighth-grader Alex Caprariello no-hit the Tigers, and Schreiber (4-6 Conference AA-IV, 5-6 overall) pounded out 15 hits, in a 19-2, mercy-shortened rout at Guggenheim Elementary School. The victory was Schreiber's first since beating Freeport more than two weeks ago.

The only surprise on the day was that Hempstead (0-10 Conference AA-IV, 0-11 overall) actually led at one point, 1-0 after scoring on a passed ball in the opening inning. Things would pick up from there, or fall apart, depending on which side you were on.

Schreiber scored three times in their half of the first on only one hit. A combination of errors, steals and passed balls helping them along the way.

In the second, the game became a laugher. Third baseman Maria Gardella stroked a two-run double to open the inning's scoring, and first baseman Rachelle Prowler knocked in two more with a single. 

The rest of the inning was a parade of hits, and most notably, sloppy Tiger defense, as even routine plays became an adventure, and the runs kept piling up. Caprariello's RBI double capped off the wild second, which saw Schreiber score 12 runs on seven hits.

On the mound, Caprariello made sure Hempstead wouldn't even think of a miracle rally, striking out seven in her second straight gem against Hempstead. She walked two walks nd both runs for Hempstead scored on errors.

"It felt good," Caprariello said of her outing. "I have a great team behind me, so I'm very confident."

Schreiber coach Eric Sutz is glad to have another weapon to send out to the mound, especially since the competition will only get tougher in the coming weeks.

"For Alex, as an eighth-grader, getting experience is great," Sutz said. "We have a couple big games next week so it'll be a mix of Danielle [Leibowitz] and Alex ... plus having Sara Marinelli too, who pitched the other day for us. Having three pitchers is tremendous."

Second baseman Emma Horowitz had four RBIs, and left fielder Aimee Stern added three hits as the game was called after five innings per mercy rules.

The lopsided game allowed Sutz to experiment defensively, as several players switched positions as the game wore on.

"It also gave girls that are working hard an opportunity to get game experience," he said. "The last couple games we haven't been able to because they've been playing tougher competition. ... I think everybody got at least two at-bats so I was happy about that." 

Although Hempstead pitching and defense weren't much of a deterrent, Sutz was pleased at his club's aggressive approach at the plate.

"Last time we played them, it was a walkfest," he said. "Today we hit the ball, we said we don't want walks, we want to swing the bat. We swung the bat and made them play defense."

Not all that well, as it turned out. Things pick up this week, as Schreiber takes on Freeport, Uniondale, and then travels to Calhoun to make up last week's rainout.

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