The Huntington varsity softball team appears poised to turnaround its recent fortunes this spring. The Blue Devils opened the regular season earlier this week with an explosive 20-11 non-league victory at Harborfields.
Junior Meg Byrnes returned to the Blue Devil softball fold and was masterful on the mound, hurling a near complete game victory. Maya DelGiudice came on to record the final out of the game.
Shortstop Anna Wickey went 3-for-3 at the plate, including two singles, a triple, a pair of walks and five runs batted in. Catcher Alexandra Gerbavsits went 3-for-5 with a walk and four RBIs.
Huntington has struggled to win games in recent years, but the current Blue Devil squad seems ready to put the past behind it and start a new era. Coaches John Walsh and Jim Byrnes were happy with how their team played at Harborfields.
Huntington scored four times in the top of the first inning against host Harborfields and took a 7-4 lead into the fourth inning when the Blue Devils scored five more runs. Huntington went on to push eight more runs across the plate over the final three innings.
Considering the brisk weather has limited Huntington’s outdoor training, Byrnes and her teammates were sharper than many expected them to be. Gerbavsits was superb behind the plate, putting a glove on every pitch and even tagging out a player during a rundown.
“Our infield was always tackling the ball and always in front of it making great plays and our outfield was catching balls and backing up bases when needed,” centerfielder Morgan Minicozzi said.
Minicozzi opened her final season with the Blue Devils by making contact four times at the plate and running down a pair of fly balls in centerfield.
The Blue Devils showed they are anything but hesitant to swing the bat with some of the team’s newcomers even smacking out hits. “I think everyone got to hit home plate at least once during the game,” Minicozzi said. “We were all so supportive of each other for our first game back. We were all excited to play and wanted to win and we did.”
Huntington begins league play at Bellport next Wednesday. The Blue Devils host North Babylon in a league contest next Friday (March 29) at 4:30 p.m.
