By Patrick McCormack
Up until this point in the season, it looked like Construction was the top PSAL girls’ softball team in Queens and arguably the best in the city.
That was until visiting Bayside showed it could top the defending city champion Red Hawks with a 13-1 victory in six innings Monday. The win put the Commodores into a tie for first place with Construction in the Queens A division.
Bayside was led by senior ace Heidi Gomez, who was able to shut down a powerful Construction lineup. Gomez gave up just one run on two hits, walked four and struck out six in six innings.
“I was relaxing,” she said. “I was trying not to overthink or going ahead of myself. I was taking it one pitch at a time. I wasn’t thinking about what was going to happen next, just every pitch at a time.”
Bayside Coach Steve Piorkowski didn’t expect anything less from Gomez. She came into her own this season with an under two ERA and 102 strikeouts to just 18 walks.
“She has been doing this all season long,” he said. “She is throwing strikes. She’s challenging batters and the defense is doing their job. She has been pitching spectacular all season long.”
Gomez also went one-for-two with four RBIs and pitched in with her bat. In the fourth inning, she hit a triple to right center that brought in three runners and gave Bayside (11-1) a 6-1 edge. Gomez knew she had to get a hit and looked for the proper pitch to drive.
“I knew she was throwing me outside,” Gomez said. “I eased up, relaxed and didn’t think home run, didn’t think out.”.
Bayside was able to put the game away with a six-run sixth inning, thanks to two hits, four walks and two errors. Piorkowski sees an improvement in his team since the Commodores’ 9-7 loss in the first meeting with Construction (11-1) March 24. Tara Berstein and Jacqueline Perno each drove in a run for Bayside.
“My kids were very selective,” he said “They had very intelligent at-bats. They walked when they should have walked, and they attacked when they should have attacked. They went down swinging on what would have been Ball 4 at times but I’ll take that.”
Red Hawks head Coach Marco Migliaccio said the game was a bad one for his team, especially coming off a big 5-3 victory over Tottenville April 25. Construction made six errors against Bayside.
“It got sloppy, every aspect of our softball,” Migliaccio said. “We knew this was a tough team. This is one of the top teams in the league and they should get the respect.”
Piorkowski sees this victory as a stepping stone for his program. His team knows what it takes to be a top club in the PSAL.
“You know the team is undefeated. You know they beat Tottenville,” Piorkowski said. “My team has never beaten Tottenville ever. It’s the fact we haven’t been there, and now we know that we are capable of doing it.”
