Riverhead softball team moves up, powered by Marelli no-hitter
Riverhead’s varsity softball team just advanced to the Suffolk County Class AAA finals, and they needed the arm of star pitcher senior Mya Marelli to do it.
Marelli, exactly a year removed from tearing her labrum, showed the softball world that she’s not only back, but she’s better than ever. No. 3 Riverhead defeated No. 1 — and formerly undefeated Commack — in the winner’s bracket semifinals, 3-0 on Wednesday at Commack High School.
Marelli put together her best performance of her varsity career, pitching her first ever complete game no-hitter, striking out 13 batters. Her stuff was electric all afternoon, leaving batters dumbfounded at the plate. Riverhead had lost this game two years in a row, and Marelli wasn’t going to let it happen again.
“Mya has been struggling getting back to being herself,” Riverhead head coach Rich Vlacci Jr. said. “But she’s got an absolute bulldog mentality, and for her, when the stage is bigger, she just shines brighter. She wanted nothing more than to get on that mountain and prove to everyone that she’s still Mya Marelli.”
Marelli did it with the bat, too. She got Riverhead on the board first with an RBI single, plating Madison Saladino in the first inning to make it, 1-0. And that’s how the score stayed the rest of the game, until the top of the 7th inning when Riverhead tacked on two more runs to close out the winning effort.
“From the start you could tell this game was going to be a pitcher’s duel,” Vlacci said. “The pitcher for Commack was unbelievable. I think both teams belonged in that game, and they both fought their hearts out.”
Riverhead (18-3) only managed to get four hits themselves. Saladino had two, Marelli had the one in the first inning and Jordyn Kwasna connected on a single later in the game. Commack’s Kate Schweitzer struck out 16 batters on the day but ended up being outdueled by Marelli.
With the victory, Riverhead is just one win away from making school history. There’s never been a Suffolk County softball champion from Riverhead. Being the winner’s bracket finalist affords them two games to get the win since their opponent will be coming into the game with one loss already in the double-elimination style tournament.
They will face the winner of No. 1 Commack and No. 2 Sachem North Saturday, May 31, at 3 p.m. The game will be played at Martha Avenue Athletic Complex in Bellport.
“We have to just make sure we stick to our identity and don’t lose sight of who we are,” Vlacci said. “No matter who we play, they’re not going to hand us anything. Right now, we’re happy but the job is not finished. We just have to get out there and play our style of softball.”
