Long Beach vs MacArthur

HIGHLIGHTS

Even with a heavy heart, MacArthur's Chiara Nappo had extra motivation in Friday's Nassau A semifinal. Nappo's grandfather, Michael Martucci, passed away on Thursday. "I was like, 'I'm doing it for him. I'm doing it for everybody," she said. "We came this far. We have to keep pushing." Nappo, who had hit two home runs all season, connected for two more as fourth-seeded and host MacArthur defeated No. 8 Long Beach, 6-3, before a crowd of 250. MacArthur (7-10) travels to face second-seeded Mepham on Monday in Game 1 of a best-of-three Nassau A championship series. "She did it for him," said Nappo's mom, Christina, fighting back tears. "Two! Not one. I said, 'Get a home run for Michael.' " Nappo's two-run blast in the third inning gave the Generals a 3-2 lead. The ball hit the yellow tubing on the top of the fence and went over for her third homer of the season. "I honestly thought it was going to be a pop fly at first," she said. "It didn't look like it was going to go far. But when I saw it roll over [the top of the fence] I was like, 'Let's go. Let's get hyped.' It was great." She wasn't finished. Nappo, who entered the playoffs as MacArthur's top hitter at .391, sent a lined smash into the gap in left-centerfield in the fifth. Two Long Beach outfielders made great efforts for the catch, but collided, as Nappo hustled around the bases for her second two-run homer of the game that gave the Generals a 6-2 lead. "She's been on fire all season," said MacArthur pitcher Taylor Brunn about Nappo. "She always gets rallies started and she keeps them going." Long Beach (9-8) took an early 2-0 lead thanks to a two-run home run off the bat of catcher Elaina Kassap, who ended the playoffs with three homers in four games. The Marines, who knocked off top-seeded Division, 4-3, on Wednesday rallied to make it 6-3 and actually brought Kassap to the plate as the tying run with two outs. But Brunn (who scattered 10 hits with three strikeouts and one walk) induced a hump-back liner to shortstop Colette O'Brien to end the game. After the game, MacArthur coach Bobby Fehrenbach was impressed with his team's defense, especially Nappo. "Forget about the [two] home runs, whatever. Forget about that -- just her defense," he said. "She's pouncing on the ball; ranging to the left. The ball gets by her the one time and she's on her back and she still tries to throw to first. She's done a tremendous job this year -- not only with the bat but in the field." Nappo, who was 3-for-3 with two runs scored and four RBIs, was nearly speechless after her two-homer performance. "This is unbelievable," she said. "My grandpa was totally helping me out. I was just doing it for my team, and that's what it comes down to." She added that there was no way she was missing Friday's semifinal a day after her grandpa's passing. "I wanted to be here for my team," she said, "and I know he would be wanting me to play, too." Heavy heart and all.