Lady Baymen notch award-winning season
On the wall of the Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School is a mural with the words, “Brilliant Beginnings.” From those brilliant beginnings come fantastic finishes.
Some of those fantastic finishes come sooner as with the recent athletic awards night held at Roslyn High School on May 12. Two sixth-graders from the James H. Vernon School, Brynn Johnson and Brian Duke, were honored with Outstanding Physical Education Elementary Middle School Awards.
Some fantastic finishes culminate with championships at the high school level.
The Oyster Bay High School varsity softball team witnessed the debut coaching season of recent college grad Morgan Lashley, who was an ace pitcher for teams at Army and Hofstra University.
Flanked by Hofstra teammate Krista Thorn as her assistant coach, Lashley was prepared and confident that she was up to the task of continuing a winning tradition that is Oyster Bay softball.
The two new coaches displayed grit and determination throughout the season with a young team that had only two seniors on the roster. Lashley spoke of the season in an inspirational speech at this week’s athletic awards banquet at the Crest Hollow Country Club.
“This past season has been full of ups and downs, but this team persevered through all sorts of adversity,” said Lashley. “New coaches with a brand new coaching style, being pushed to their limits both mentally and physically during every practice, and playing teams that, by the book, were much better than them. They have improved an enormous amount but not just as softball players, they have matured and become fantastic young ladies.”
The Lady Baymen faced off against Wheatley High School in a best of three game series for the Class B Nassau County Championship. Oyster Bay dominated the diamond in a decisive two-game sweep to earn the championship.
“Our goal was to teach these girls that no matter what you are trying to achieve in life there will be a standard and it will not be lowered for anyone. Through commitment, dedication, and a lot of hard work that standard is attainable and extremely rewarding,” said the coach. “Every one of these girls this year was held to a high standard and I hope that they always remember this lesson. If we fail to hold ourselves accountable then we will in turn fail at leading others no matter what we are doing in life.”
The Coaches Award went to Emily Moore for demonstrating leadership and amazing passion for the game. Moore always gave full effort at practice and epitomized a team player. She is a competitor and took the most criticism from her coaches and did it with great attitude.
The Most Valuable Player Award went to Dana Galgano without whom the Lady Baymen would not have been able to accomplish what they did this year. Not only was she a huge contributor on the field as a “lights out” pitcher, but Galgano took the underclassmen and guided them to new heights.
The Most Improved Award went to Hannah Lopes, who was bounced around from position to position this year. She never complained about one thing and only improved every single day at practice. She pays attention to detail and with a lot of hard work has come leaps and bounds from where she was in February.
—Submitted by Tom Gould
