The Lady Tigers Softball team’s arrow is pointing in the right direction – and they are in a position to push that arrow even higher in 2022.

After winning 12 of 19 games last year, which is only three years removed from a dreadful 2-16 in 2018, the Northport Sluggin’ Tigers are ready make some serious noise this spring as they kick things off on Wednesday at reigning League II champion Commack.

The Lady Tigers ended the 2021 regular season by winning 9 out of 14 games, good for a 3^rd place finish in the league and a playoff birth as the 8^th seed in Class AA.

They overcame a shaky start in the first round of playoffs, falling behind Lindenhurst in the very first inning. But Samantha Voskinarian, who returns this year as the Lady Tigers ace pitcher, settled down to get the complete game win. The Lady Tigers entered the 7^th inning down by a run but were rescued when then-junior 1B Chloe Montanino hit a clutch two-run, two-out single to propel the Lady Tigers to a wild, walk-off victory.   After that stirring win, Northport lost in the second round to #1 seeded North Babylon.

“Our goal is to improve upon last year’s results,” said junior shortstop Alexa Shutowich. “We have a lot of our players coming back from 2021 and we have some new girls who are up and coming, so I am excited for this season.

Aside from Montanino, who is also an effective pitcher, Shutowich, the senior Voskinarian, other returning players include senior outfielder and co-captain Emily Sylvanus, sophomore OF/INF Zoey Nussbaum, sophomore OF Sarah Jaleshgari and senior catcher/3B and co-captain Erin Gibbons, who scored that winning run against Lindy back in June, 2021.

“Many of the girls have been together for a long time – since little league – so we really play well together as team,” said Gibbons. “We want to make a deep run in the playoffs and I think we can do it. We only lost one senior so we’re only going to get better.”

That one graduated senior is Gibbons’ sister Anna, who is continuing her softball career at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

“It feels very different without Anna as my teammate because we’ve played together on every team I’ve ever been on and I will miss that,” said Gibbons. “But she passed the torch to me now and I’m ready to lead this team.”

The younger Gibbons has a tough-as-nails style behind the plate and is very happy and willing to make a snap throw to first base if an opposing baserunner carelessly wanders too far away from it. She smashed a triple against Hauppauge and dove headfirst into the base, jarring the ball loose from the unsuspecting third baseman.

“I play hard,” Gibbons said succinctly.

Another hard-nosed player who is still technically on the team but will not suit up this season is senior OF Natalia D’Onofrio. She was injured in the first round of the basketball playoff and will be out for the season.

“We are gonna miss Natalia, definitely,” said Gibbons. “But knowing her, she’s going be coming to games and practices, so it will be good to have her spirit around the team.”

The team is coached by Kim Michaluk and she took over when the team was going through its lowest depths of that two win season.

“We’ve been through a lot, but each year we have improved,” said Michaluk, now starting her 5^th year as coach. “I think we can compete with anyone.”

They will start competing against Commack, who lost in the semi-finals against eventual Class AA champion Bay Shore last year. The Lady Tigers will see the Lady Marauders in the fourth game of the year at Bay Shore.