Riverhead softball clinches playoff spot, continues turnaround on senior night

Senior day for the Riverhead softball team was Tuesday night at Stotzky Park in Riverhead. Though every one of them has an important role on the team, two in particular have been fixtures in the starting lineup since eighth grade and instrumental to the success of the program over the years.

Jordyn Kwasna and Adriana Martinez came up to varsity as two bright-eyed, eager-to-learn eighth-graders with abilities far beyond their years. Now seniors, with all the former leaders graduating, they had no choice but to take the reins of the program. And they were instantly hit with adversity. 

Two years ago, the softball team set a school record, going 19-0 during the regular season before getting tripped up in the Suffolk County semifinals. Last year, the team posted a 16-2 record in League I and eventually brought home the school’s first Suffolk County softball championship.

It’s been all winning the last few years, so when they started 1-3 this year, it could have sent the team into panic mode, with the Blue Waves playing in unfamiliar territory.

But on Tuesday, Riverhead (12-4) clinched a playoff berth with a 16-4 win over Brentwood, the latest sign of how dramatically the Blue Waves have turned their season around after the slow start.

“I have to give it to the seniors, especially Jordyn and Adriana,” head coach Rich Vlacci Jr. said. “Jordyn came up to me after our third loss and asked if she could address the team alone. They spent 20 minutes talking before the next practice, and that practice was the best practice we had all year.”

Ever since that talk, the team has produced an 11-1 record and now sits just one game out of first place.

“We just had to figure out how to mesh as a team,” Kwasna said. “We really didn’t realize how many new girls we had and that they needed help settling in and feeling welcome. Me and Adriana have been here forever, so like the core was solid, but they needed to feel part of that core, and that’s what we focused our efforts on.”

“We have a lot of new faces, and it was really on us as seniors to bring them up to speed,” Martinez said. “It’s always been a family environment here, and I think we just lost sight of that a little bit this year and took the work we needed to do off the field for granted.”

The duo has taken the league by storm. Kwasna is on pace to set just about every hitting record in Riverhead softball history. She’s hitting .648 with a 1.942 OPS. In 16 games played, Kwasna has 35 hits, including seven home runs and eight doubles. She already has 44 RBIs this season. Last year’s team leader during the championship run finished with 35.

“I’ve never seen anything like it, to be honest,” Vlacci Jr. said. “I’ve never seen someone so locked in at the plate. But she doesn’t settle for being average. She’s so driven as a player, and hard work pays off.”

“Nothing is bothering me this year,” Kwasna said. “I used to get in my head during at-bats. Maybe I got a bad call against me by the umpire, or I’m trying to do too much, or just not focused entirely, but this year I found this zen-like state.”

Martinez is second on the team in average, hitting .492 on the season. She’s been on a hitting streak of late, with the ball blistering off her bat. She went 4-for-4 against Brentwood on Tuesday. In 16 games played, she has 29 hits, including nine doubles and 19 singles. She has struck out only four times this season, scored 24 runs, and has stolen 14 bases without being caught.

“We’re so blessed to have leaders at the top that not only lead by example but are there for everyone else,” Vlacci Jr. said. “They turned this thing around. Everyone else stepped up their game, too. It has become contagious. We’re a team again. We’re having fun. That’s what this sport is all about.”