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Hills West Softball Prevails Over West Islip 6-2

Fifth straight win for Colts, fifth straight loss for Lions in League III-IV crossover action.

Both Hills West and West Islip took the fifth on Wednesday. 

For the Colts, that meant five straight wins, for the Lions, it's five straight defeats after a 6-2 Hills victory in League III-IV crossover softball action.

Hills pitcher Alyssa Bitsimis, a letter of intent to play for La Salle University, was riding a four-game shutout streak.  That would come to an end, but all that mattered was another complete game win, as the Colts improved to 9-1.

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Bitsimis gave her team, and herself, support right off the bat (literally).  She led off the game with a triple, and after a walk, came home on Melissa Kelly's single.  Morgan Hughes scored on a groundout, and Diana Kontos drove home Kelly to make it 3-0, the start of a big day for the Colts' third baseman.

The Lions ended the shutout streak in the third when Marisa Motisi drove home Daphne Thompson with a bases-loaded single, and West Islip seemed poised for a big inning. However, Bitsimis got Lions catcher Gabriella Coiro to ground into a 4-4-3 double play to end the threat.

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After a shaky start, Lions starter Megan Henry settled down, but got in trouble again in the fifth , giving up a two-run double to Kontos, making it 5-1.

"I was looking for a pitch down the middle, a little lower, and I saw it, and hit it," Kontos said.

The hit came after a Hughes error at short, and Lions coach Michelle Jantzen knows they have to tighten their defense if they hope to put an end to the losing streak.

"Offensively we've been scoring...it's the defense that's really been our problem, letting up a lot of runs, that's been our overall issue," Jantzen said.

On the other side, defense helped propel Hills to a win.  In between her run-scoring hits, Kontos made a terrific play in the fifth, charging in from third to catch a Chelsea Weir bunt and doubling off Thompson at first.  In the sixth, Kelly threw out Motisi trying to score on a flyout for another double play, ending Islip's last real threat of the day.

"[Defense] is something we've been harping on all year," Hills coach Rob Rizzo said.  "Those are the little things you have to do to win, and these girls are playing like a real solid team and the 9-1 record is proof."

To cap off the day, Bitsimis drove in the final Colts run in the sixth, and she closed things out on the mound, scattering ten hits with only one walk.  Henry took the loss for the 3-8 Lions, who will try to end their losing streak Friday against Comsewogue.  The Colts try and stay hot the same day vs. East Islip.

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