Blue Waves clinch second straight softball league title

For the first time since 1974, the Riverhead varsity softball team has won back-to-back league titles. With the 11–5 victory over Patchogue-Medford Thursday, May 15, at Martha Avenue Field Complex in Bellport, Riverhead (16–3) has made it mathematically impossible for any other team to overtake them at the top of League I.

But while the Blue Waves have stitched another year onto the league title banner hanging in the gymnasium, the Suffolk County championship space remains bare. Once the playoffs start, this group hopes to change that.

On April 15, Riverhead lost to Patchogue-Medford, 5–6, marking their third loss of the season. A year after going 20–0 in league play, question started to be raised. Was this team as good as last year’s?

“That was the whole thing,” senior outfielder Isabella D’Andrea said. “People started to say we weren’t as good this year. We knew we were better this year. Maybe the losses didn’t show it at first, but we knew.”

That final loss of the regular season must have sparked something inside the Blue Waves because since then, they’ve done nothing but win, rattling off 11 straight victories to close out the season — including two wins against Patchogue-Medford, who sat undefeated at the top of the division for most of the year. On Thursday, Riverhead left no question about which is the best team in the division.

With a playoff-like atmosphere, both teams understood the importance of Thursday’s contest. A win would mean a top seed in the Class AAA Suffolk County playoffs and possibly a home-field advantage throughout. The stakes were high.

“We knew the type of game this was going to be,” junior shortstop Adriana Martinez said. “They’re a tough team, and we were really looking forward to playing them.”

Riverhead didn’t waste any time getting on the board. After Martinez singled to open the game, Jordyn Kwasna knocked her in with a single past the shortstop. With two runners on, D’Andrea connected on a single that bounced through the middle and plated another two to take a 3–0 lead by the end of the inning. 

“I wouldn’t call it making a statement,” head coach Rich Vlacci Jr. said. “This is just us. This is what we do. I don’t think we had anything to prove. We have done it all year long.”

In 18 league games this season, Riverhead has scored 201 runs — breaking their record from last season. The crack of the bat just kept getting louder as the game went on.

Two more runs were tacked on in the second inning on an opposite field double off the bat of pitching ace Mya Marelli. In the fifth inning, the Blue Waves broke the game open. Even with a Patchogue-Medford pitching change in the middle of the inning, Riverhead just refused to make an out. 

Eight straight hits in the inning led to six runs and a crooked scoreboard against a team that by the standings should have kept it close. Sophia Viola and Morgan Gajowski both launched 2-RBI hits in the inning. Shaylee Bealy produced one of her three singles on the day.

“When we’re stringing hits together like that, our confidence is just at an all-time high,” Bealy said. “We didn’t want that inning to end. Everyone was building off of each other’s energy.”

Though Patchogue-Medford was able to score a few more runs, they never really threatened Riverhead the rest of the game. When the Raiders started building some momentum, Bealy made an incredible diving play at second base to instantly stop them in their tracks. 

By extending the lead, Riverhead was able to pull Marelli after throwing five innings with limited damage.

With the regular season wrapped up, the Blue Waves will await their playoff seeding as the rest of the teams play out the string. Vlacci predicts they will likely be the No. 2 seed or, at worst, No. 3, because some teams in League II have better records. Riverhead is still assured a home playoff game Wednesday, May 21, when the postseason opens.

“Last year we were really focused on winning the league because it hadn’t been done in so long,” Bealy said. “But we have higher goals now. We want that county championship. Everyone is locked in.”