Spring sports have begun and many teams are anticipating a season that may end in conference and maybe even county championships.  The girls softball team has its eye on the prize and has gotten off to an amazing start, and as of now they have played eight games, in which they have gone six and two, while enjoying an impressive five-game win streak.  That is great compared to last year’s first eight games in which they went four and four, finishing with an eight and eleven record.  They are also five and two in conference play this year compared to a total of six and nine last year.  This year, the team has made some key additions and is looking to use that to their advantage.

The two teams to which the girls lost this year were Farmingdale and Hicksville, which were back-to-back losses.  Last year the team lost to Farmingdale three times: five to one away, nine to seven at home, and, finally, ten to one away.  This only fueled the fire to the teams’ already heated rivalry.  Last year, against Hicksville, the girls went two and one: eleven to two at home, a shutout—seven to zero in Hicksville, and, finally, a close loss for the girls six to four at home.  This year, the team plays Farmingdale one more time, on April 23, and then plays Hicksville one more time, the game after on April 25.

Port Washington currently stands in fifth place in their division, and they stand behind Herricks, who is seven and zero in conference play, as well as Calhoun, Farmingdale, and Hicksville.  The team is set to play all three teams in a row at the end of April.  Traveling at the bottom of the pack in the division are six teams all tied for last, including Valley Stream Central, Great Neck South, Hempstead, Plainview Old Bethpage JFK, Syosset, and Westbury.  All six teams have failed to win a game in the conference and overall.  The girls are set to play Plainview Old Bethpage JFK and Syosset in their final two games of the season on April 30 and May 2.  They have already played Plainview Old Bethpage JFK, Syosset, and Long Beach, all of which they have defeated.  Finally, in the middle of the division sits Freeport, who is one and one in division play, Uniondale who is two and three in division play, and Long Beach who is two and four in division play.  However, one team that is not in their division, Baldwin, is seen as one of their biggest foes.  Last year, the girls lost to them twice and beat them one time, losing both games in Baldwin and winning their game at home.

The combination of skilled players and coaches is helping the girls have a successful season so far.  Head coach Mr. Eric Sutz and assistant coach Mr. Sean Dooley have done a great job in leading the team so far this season.  The two seniors that are leading the team are Ashlynn Gallagher, who is committed to Fairfield to play softball, and Nina Bullaro, who is having an outstanding season at the plate.  Behind them are two sophomores who were both on the team last season. One of which is Maddie Gallagher, who recently committed to South Carolina for softball. The other impressive sophomore is Maria Bullaro, who is having a great year on the mound racking up four wins and one save, including a game in which she had eight strikeouts.

The girls are having an excellent year so far, but in order to reach the conference championship game and win it all, they will have to improve.  The girls are looking to improve on their fielding, especially errors.  However, the girls have definitely improved from last year, as can be seen by the drastic increase in their wins to this point.  Another thing to improve upon may be away games.  Although this year they have only played three games away, both of the games that they lost have been away games.

This season has seen the addition of many players, which before the season led to many questions. 

“We lost a lot of seniors this season and went in with almost a completely new team,” said sophomore Maria Bullaro.  “We had no clue what was to come, but the results have been fantastic.”

The girls are looking to add to what has already been an outstanding season.  With seven games left they look to go a total of twelve straight wins, and hopefully win the conference championship.  However, with two teams above them in the standings in those seven games it will be tough, but they definitely have the talent to do so.