They’ve been friends forever. Now? They’re Section 1 champions.
On Sunday, May 30, the Eastchester varsity softball team secured its first title in 35 years, outclassing Yorktown 9-1 in the Class A finals and putting the finishing touches on a story that has been several seasons in the making.
Head coach Pat Gallo credited the team’s chemistry and mindset for Eastchester’s fantastic run through the sectional tournament. Gallo noted that this group—particularly a junior class that began their varsity career together as middle schoolers—has resulted in a historic run that has Eastchester once again on top in Section 1.
“Today was the culmination of four years of hard work, with this junior class starting as eighth graders,” he said. “We played great on all sides of the ball, defensively, offensively, Sabrina Cosgrove was fabulous in the circle . . . this was us putting it all together.”
Cosgrove, a sophomore, was splendid on Sunday, taking a no-hitter into the top of the seventh inning, striking out five batters on the afternoon. She said that the trust that each Eagle player has in their teammates was evident during this march to the title.
“On this team, everyone is so close together, and I think the main reason we’ve gotten this far is of how we’ve bonded; when someone makes a mistake, we just pick each other up and we make the next play.”
There weren’t a lot of mistakes on Sunday, as the Eagles controlled this one from the outset, as Kylie Reardon got Eastchester on the board with a two-run single in the bottom of the first inning. By the end of the third, the Eagles were up 7-0 and clearly cruising to a win.
Eastchester—led by two-hit days from Reardon, Cosgrove, and Olivia Le—collected 11 hits on a day that was a far cry from their previous two playoff wins, which came on stunning walkouts.
Gallo joked that the Eastchester fans that packed the stadium at North Rockland might have been robbed of witnessing another stunning victory—a tradeoff he said he was willing to make.
“I gotta be honest, I feel like we let the fans down a bit today,” he laughed. “We’re used to winning in dramatic fashion, and I kept on waiting for that moment.”
Up next for the Eagles is a game against Section 9 champion Minisink Valley at 6 p.m. on Friday night at Middletown High School. Gallo said the team will revel in their success for a bit before jumping right back in and focusing on the task at hand.
“We’re going to enjoy this; we’ve got a few days off, so we have a few days to soak this in,” said Gallo. “But I don’t think we’re done. I honestly believe that these kids want to win and there are more wins coming from us.”
