Alex Livanos gave up five runs in the first two innings, but by the time MacArthur walked off the field at the end of the game, it felt like Livanos had tossed a gem.
Livanos allowed no earned runs in the final nine innings of an 11-inning, 7-6 win over Glen Cove in Game 1 of a best-of-three series in the Nassau Class AA final on Thursday night at Farmingdale State.
"It was stressful early, but my teammates helped me out," Livanos said. "They always pick me up and that's what keeps me going in a situation like today."
Down to their final out in the bottom of the seventh, Hailey Trapani tripled and was driven in by Livanos' single, tying the game at 5 and forcing extra innings.
After two more scoreless innings, the game reached the 10th, leading to the international tiebreaker rule coming into effect, where a runner is placed on second to start each half inning.
Glen Cove scored its ghost runner on Sara Roditi's single with one out in the 10th. MacArthur responded in the bottom half with Gabby Silvestri's RBI single, tying it at 6.
"Having that ghost runner brings more pressure for me. It's nerve-wracking," Livanos said. "You know you have to just keep throwing strikes and have the defense make plays."
Livanos struck out a batter to start the top of the 11th and the ghost runner was caught in a rundown and tagged out between second and third. Livanos struck out the next batter to get out of the inning and Gianna Spaventa hit a walk-off single with one out in the bottom of the inning.
"My previous at-bats weren't the best, but I knew I had to get it done in that moment for my team," Spaventa said. "We deserved this game and we're going to come out strong tomorrow."
Glen Cove (12-10) scored the game's first run on Alyssa Weigand's home run, but the catcher suffered an apparent knee injury during her next at-bat.
Trapani hit an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the first to tie the score at 1. Glen Cove scored four runs in the second on Alana Barnes' single, Brooke Simmons' double and Mia Lupinski's two-run single.
"I told the girls it's a long game, just keep chipping away little by little," MacArthur coach Bobby Fehrenbach said. "This was good, exciting softball. Both teams had opportunities, and we kept responding."
MacArthur (11-13) scored two runs in the bottom of the third and Alyssa Tinucci hit an inside-the-park homer in the bottom of the fifth to cut MacArthur's deficit to 5-4.
Game 2 is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday at Farmingdale State.