Maya DelGiudice gave the Huntington High School softball team a thrill when the junior hurled a no-hitter against Copiague last Thursday afternoon.
The teenager has been playing softball for a long time, but she never threw a no-no before last week. DelGiudice’s mother, Nicole, a social worker and her father, Thomas, a college professor as well as an uncle where among the crowd of Blue Devil fans at the game.
Keeping with long established tradition, neither Huntington coaches John Walsh and Jim Byrnes nor any of her teammates, brought up the topic of the no-hitter to DelGiudice during the game itself. She even wasn’t aware of it herself until after the final out had been recorded.
The teenager struck out seven batters and issued five bases on balls in the complete game victory. The teams were scoreless until Copiague pushed a run across the plate in the top of the third inning. Huntington went ahead with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Blue Devils added an insurance run in the sixth to secure a 4-1 victory.
Alexandra Gerbavsits went 2-for-3 at the plate for Huntington and Jocelyn Gray drove in a pair of runs. DelGiudice even banged out a two hits to help her own cause.
DelGiudice has been playing softball since she was seven years old. She started pitching when she was 12.
“When the game ended, I didn’t know it was a no-hitter,” DelGiudice said. “Coaches Walsh and Byrnes wanted to surprise me or not jinx it, I guess. They surprised me in the team meeting after the game.”
Naturally her Blue Devil teammates were just as happy for DelGiudice as she was herself after the feat. “I was kind of in shock,” she said. “I didn’t believe it for a while, but it felt really cool since I only hear about no-hitters in Major League Baseball. I didn’t really believe I could ever do that.”
Besides being a great athlete, DelGiudice is also a wonderful student, too. She’s well versed in current events and if she doesn’t fit the narrow definition of a political activist then she comes awfully close. “I believe many things need to be done for this country right now,” she said.
Since her first day of kindergarten at Washington Primary School, DelGiudice has been a standout. “I like all the schools in Huntington and the teachers are great,” she said. “The work does get really stressful, though I’m super excited for senior year.”
While the junior hasn’t picked a college just yet, DelGiudice has taken a liking to SUNY New Paltz following a recent visit to the campus. It’s the alma mater of Huntington High School Principal Brenden Cusack.
