East Hampton Softball Loses Two Playoff Games, Expects To Make Deeper Run Next Season

The East Hampton softball team may have been eliminated after its two-game minimum in the Suffolk County Class AA playoffs last week, but if their second half turnaround is any indication of what’s to come, the Bonackers could be primed for big things in 2026.

After losing, 18-0, to top-seed East Islip on May 20, East Hampton lost, 4-1, at No. 4 Rocky Point on Friday to end their run in the double-elimination tournament.

“Oh, we better be,” first-year head coach Melissa Edwards said after Friday’s loss in response to whether her team will make it back to the playoffs next season. “I think we will be back, and I think we will be back and potent because of the growth in the girls just within this year since last season. We’re going to have a nice shot next year. We’re going to make a good run at it.

“A couple of JV players that came up for postseason, they’re going to give the current starters on this team a run, and that’s what I want,” she added. “I want them to want their spots, and I want the current players to continue to earn their spots. That’s exactly what you want as a coach and a head of a program — that fight, that grit. I think there’s a great potential within Bonac softball, and I’m very exited to be a part of it.”

Once East Hampton starting pitcher Isabel Briand found her groove in the bottom of the second inning of Friday’s game at Rocky Point, striking out six of the seven batters she faced at one point, it felt as if maybe one or two runs were going to decide the game. And the Bonackers got that run in the top of the fourth inning.

An error allowed Alexa Schaffer to reach base safely with one out, and after she stole second base cleanly, Susie DiSunno, with two outs, doubled to left center field, bringing in Schaffer for the game’s first run.

After allowing a walk in the bottom of the fourth, Briand sat down the next three batters and things were looking good for Bonac, though clinging to just a one-run lead. In the bottom of the fifth, Eva Nagel led off with a double to left field and the Eagles were eventually able to load the bases. With one out, Reese Berzolla singled in a pair of runs to give Rocky Point its first lead, 2-1. In the sixth inning, the Eagles tacked on a pair of insurance runs.

All three Bonac batters put the ball in play in the top of the seventh, but Rocky Point made all of the necessary plays to close out the 4-1 victory. Edwards said it was a tough loss because it was one she felt was within reach.

“It was a heck of a game, but when you get to the postseason, those little things add up and they have to be capitalized on offensively and defensively. And today we just didn’t do that,” Edwards said. “I talked to the girls about two seasons, we have the regular season and the postseason. Postseason you have to be crisp and clean. And a couple things came back to bite us, and that’s postseason.

“Other than that, I am proud of them,” she continued. “From where we started the season to where we finished, I just said to them that I couldn’t be more proud. That’s exactly what you want as a coach, to watch the growth, to watch how they just connected, took care of each other and held each other accountable. That’s what I want this program to become and this has been a phenomenal team to start that.”

DiSunno, a four-year varsity player, and Mackenzie Lenahan, a two-year varsity player, are the only two seniors who are graduating from the program. Edwards said both will be missed.

“Susie has definitely made her mark on this program,” she said. “When you talk about someone who was coachable, somebody who is going out giving a solid work ethic every day, who shows up even though she does everything else under the sun — she is the most well-rounded student-athlete, the consummate student-athlete — but her intensity on the field as well as her lightness; she’s got it all.”

Edwards said she was somewhat surprised that DiSunno really took hold of the starting catching duties, only because Brynley Lys is such a strong catcher as well. She thought she was going to have to split catching duties between the two, but DiSunno proved to be a stalwart behind the plate, and Lys was able to carve out a starting spot in left field, so it all worked out.

“Susie stepped up, captained her team just as I expected her to and she did a beautiful job,” Edwards said. “The girls look up to her. They know she’s business, but genuinely cares about them. She’s somebody that generally wants to see everyone get better, and that’s a beautiful thing. That’s what you want to coach. She’ll be missed.

“Mackenzie, you can’t ask for an overall better kid,” she added. “She shows up every day, she gets better every day. She’s the most supportive teammate that we have. She’s going to do amazing things just because she is a beautiful, beautiful person. Two key players that are leaving our program that will be missed sorely but that has definitely left a mark on it, and that’s what I want as far as their ability, their work ethic and who they are as people. That’s my main thing.”

As tough as it is to lose those two players, the Bonackers will be returning the majority of their team next season and will get an infusion of young talent once again. It will be key for those returning, though, to stay on top of their game so the team doesn’t start next season like it did this season, in which it only won two of its first eight games.

“This isn’t a sport where you can put your gloves down at the end of today’s game and pick it up second week of March. It just doesn’t work like that,” Edwards said. “You have to be honing your skills all year long.”

Edwards was a three-sport athlete and her assistant coach Samantha James was a three-sport athlete. They’re both proponents of having athletes on the team, but they both need to see a solid commitment to softball regardless of what other sports may be going on.

“You still have to make the time to hone the skills in the offseason and keep yourself crisp, and that’s the cool thing about these girls, they all play these sports together, so I’m not too worried about them showing up and doing the offseason workouts,” she said. “I think they will be there and I think they will be excited for it. We have a great bunch of girls that truly love the sport and want to get better and want to see the program grow.”