Kings Park's Lady Kingsmen Are Long Island Champions

By Anthony Vertucci

In a moment the 2011 Kings Park Lady Kingsmen softball team will treasure for their entire lives they defeated the Seaford Vikings and captured the first Long Island Regional Championship in school history.

Lindsay Taylor carried a perfect game into the sixth inning, picking up the all important 4-2 complete game victory to help send her team to the state championship. Taylor was quick to give credit to her teammates, as she uncharacteristically had no strike outs with all of Seaford’s outs coming from the defense.

“The defense made every play. They got a few hits here and there but we still stayed on top of it and got through it,” said Taylor, whose stellar play has been rewarded with a scholarship to Syracuse University.

Kings Park now heads to Glens Falls to compete for the New York State Championship on Saturday. They will have to win two consecutive games on the same day against different opponents to earn that distinction, but the girls have proven they are up to the challenge. The Lady Kingsmen won their first Suffolk County title by virtue of last week’s 8-2 win over Sayville.

Pulling ahead early proved to be the difference on Tuesday at Martha Avenue Field in Bellport, with three of Kings Park’s four runs coming in the first inning. Walks to Jessica LoBianco and Taylor, coupled with a double by Nicole Brieva, loaded up the bases. First basemen Reina Torlincasi sent a double up the left field line to clear the bases and give her team a 3-0 lead. Taylor retired the side in order to quickly end the bottom half of the first. 

“She’s been with us since eighth grade and she’s taken three league championships,” said head coach Kim McGinley of Taylor. “The girls had her back and they did it. She’s an outstanding ball player, both in the circle and at the plate, and she’s a fantastic leader.”

Kings Park tacked on their fourth run in the fifth inning with Paige Julich batting. Julich grounded out to give Taylor the opportunity to take home on the play.

Seaford’s first hit of the game came in the top of the sixth, as first basemen Caitlin Hewitt doubled to lead off the inning. Hewitt would advance on a groundout and third basemen Hannah Spinola would deliver an RBI single to cut the deficit to 4-1. Seaford won the Nassau title on June 2 with their victory over Plainedge and was not about to go down without a fight.

After shutting down Kings Park in their half of the sixth, Seafood pitcher Lindsey Montemarano would help her own cause with a sharply hit ball to left. The ball rolled past the outfielders, and Montemarano’s hustle out of the gate allowed her to turn the hit into an inside-the-park home run.

This made it a 4-2 game with no outs in the seventh and final inning. Taylor however ignored the pressure and continued to throw heat. A fly out and two groundouts later Kings Park were Long Island Champions and the celebration was underway.

“The kids are pretty psyched,” said McGinley. “They’re probably going to play A League of Their Own to get some laughs and just let them relax, and then hopefully we’ll go the distance. I don’t have a doubt.”

Friday morning the team will head up to Glens Falls for practice, opening ceremonies and a champions dinner. Their 9 a.m. opponent is yet to be determined, but if they are victorious in their first game they will go on to play for the championship at 2 p.m.