After a down season for Riverhead softball standards last year in which the team posted a 8-12 record, the Blue Waves are back in the playoffs thanks to an offensive explosion Friday against Smithtown East.
After losing to Smithtown East (10-4 League II) the first time around, the Riverhead sluggers got revenge playing at their place to the tune of 14-2.
“It all came together yesterday,” Doroski said in a phone interview on Saturday. “In my short tenure as coach that’s the best we’ve ever played to date.”
The Blue Waves (10-6 League II) suffered a 14-1 loss to Walt Whitman last week which may have shaken the girls up a bit but after the game against Bay Shore on Tuesday, Doroski said, the girls seemed to be hitting their stride.
“We shut them out and that was a big win for us,” Doroski said. “We played them the first game of the year and beat them 9-8 so we know going there we would have a tough game. We were both 7-6 at the time. I think that really got us going in the right direction.”
A day later they clobbered a lowly Central Islip team 15-3 before destroying the Bulls. All signs point forward.
On Friday all but one girl in the lineup got a hit and four had a multiple-hit game.
Dani Napoli hit the cover off of the ball going 4-4 with a triple and double. She knocked in three runs and scored three herself.
“I haven’t been around this game for a long time but she’s the best player I’ve ever seen,” Doroski said. “She makes a strong case to be the MVP of our league, we’ll see how that shakes out. She’s definitely an All-County player and when she’s going, she’s going.”
With four games remaining, the Blue Waves will look to add a few more wins before playoffs start. More wins, as always, will equate to a better seeding. They’ll travel to Smithtown West on Tuesday.
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