Amity Girls Play for the Breakers

While the team is called “the Stratford Breakers” Coach/Manager Mark Blydenburg insists that his 18 and-under fast pitch summer softball team is Amity-based.

The Breakers’ program was started in 2004 as a 10 and-under team and has moved up as the players get older. The Breakers’ current roster does include Orange and Woodbridge residents who play for Amity during the spring—Corina Zdrowski and Blydenburg’s daughter, Dana. Blydenburg insists that the Breakers have had in the past and once again have this summer, some of the top high school softball players from around the state on its current roster.

According to Blydenburg, “Our current players are from all over Connecticut. That’s been the case since Day 1. Our girls come from some of the most competitive high school softball teams in th3 state. While the team is very competitive, the girls truly have fun and enjoy playing with each other during the summer and also playing against each other in the spring.

The Breakers have won dozens and dozens of championships in all age groups., Our 2007 18-U team was led by Rachele Fico, who was a stand out pitcher at Masuk High of Monroe and is now pitching for LSU. That team was coached by our General Manager Mark Fawver and went on to win the PONY national championship in a tournament that was held in Vienna, Ohio.”

Blydenburg boasted that he has had a lot of help running the team over the years as assistant coaches and parent volunteers helping with off-field needs.

He added, “These people bring to the table a level of softball now-how that is unmatched. I couldn’t do it alone but would also do it all over-again in a heart-beat with our volunteers. I have had the pleasure of spending nearly 7 years with some of the best people and players in the world.

A travel team that is together for almost 11 months a year isn’t successful if the parents are uncooperative or act like jerks. Our parents are very supportive and understand that at this level, every kid can’t be a start or even a starter. Our parents trust our coaching staff and rarely, if ever, interfere.”

The Breakers’ mentor went on to describe his team as “tight as a drum with all the girls being the best of friends.”

“We created an atmosphere where girls from Bethany Orange, and/or Woodbridge can become best friends with girls from Redding, North Haven, Wolcott, Brookfield, Shelton, and Milford as well as dozens of other towns and cities across our state. There is a level of camaraderie here with our team that I have not seen with other teams we have crossed paths with over the years. There is good competition among the girls but at the same time, they truly care for each other, cheer for each other and have each other’s backs at all times,” he said.

Abby Rosner, Molly Rosner, Allie Baker, Jennifer Post, Ronnie Pennick, Tori Cimino, and Lori Borelli are all former Amity players who also played for the Breakers.  Cimino, Lori Borelli, Taylor Baker, Dana Blydenburg, and Post were part of the 2005 Orange Girls Little League All Star team that competed at the Little League World Series in Portland, Oregon.

Seven of the Breakers’ current 11 girls have been with the program 5 years and a couple is with it for all 7 years. Blydenburg noted that long term tie with each other allow his players to anticipate their teammates’ next move.

While 9 of his current 11 players will be seniors in the fall, Blydenburg recalled when his players were mostly 10 year olds and were starting to think about high school.

He added, “We told the girls that we were preparing them for high school and if they worked hard they would be prepared to play varsity softball as freshmen.  Once they entered high school, we began to prepare them for playing ball in college. Now, that’s right around the corner.”

With obvious pride in his voice, Blydenburg noted that his players have caught the attention of numerous college scouts. At the same time, he acknowledged that softball may not in the college plans for all his girls.

According to the Breakers’ long-time mentor, “Softball aside, they have learned a bigger lesson than how to turn a double play. They have mastered the art of team work, commitment, dedication, work ethic, time management, personal sacrifice, sportsmanship, and loyalty. If any of the girls never touch a softball again after next year, we have prepared them everything that awaits them in the real world.”

Blydenburg claimed that there were a number of college coaches scouting his and other teams during the recent Tradition Showcase in Wallingford. Reaching the Finals, the Breakers took on the Conn. Eliminators, who had many college freshmen in their line-up. With his daughter Dana in the pitching circle, throwing a 4-hiter, the Breakers came away with an exciting n4-3 victory.

He said, “This was an unbelievable game, watched by a dozen or so college coaches. It was by far, the biggest win ever for our team.”

Dana Blydenburg and Zdrowski each picked up a pair of victories during the showcase.

This was the 32^nd time in its 7 years of existence that the Breakers have gone to the Finals of a tournament.

“That is our goal every time we play. Win or lose, it doesn’t matter whom we play; we play to reach the Finals. Of the 32 tournament Finals we have been in, we won champions 22 times and finished among the top 3 times 45 times,” Blydenburg said.

He recalled the Breakers participating in the 2009 14-U PONY National Championship Tournament in Cary, North Carolina. The Breakers finished 17^th out of 96 teams in that tourney. Playing up and down the eastern seaboard, the Breakers have accumulated a 291-85-9 record.

The current Breakers’ season began on June 18^th and will conclude on July31^st. To date, the team has a 17-6-1 record and has captured one tournament. That tournament was the 2011 USSSA 18 and-under Connecticut State Championship last weekend in East Hartford where the Breakers defeated the Connecticut Angels 4-1. That win was extra sweet to Dana Blydenburg and Zdrowski as the Angels had several players from Westhill High of Stamford, the team that defeated Amity in the CIAC Class LL state tournament.

Dana Blydenburg was the winning pitcher in that contest and improved her summer record to 8-1 (with 1 save). Zdrowski is 2-6 (with 1 save). Blydenburg is also the team’s leading hitter with a .351 batting average. She has15 hits, 3 doubles, 3 triples, 12 runs batted in and 12 runs scored. Zdrowski is right behind with a .345 batting average, 12 hits, 1 double, 1 triple, 9 RBI, and 9 runs scored.

In addition to the 2 Lady Spartans the current Breakers roster also includes: Melissa Nelson (Jonathan Law H.S.), Emily Morris (Wolcott H.S.), Kristyn Cullen (North Haven H.S.), Brittany Fusek (Brookfield H.S.), Brittany Lampert (Shelton H.S), Katherine Acocella (Joel Barlow H.S.), Jennifer Sicinski (Shelton H.S.), Brooke Phelan (Foran H.S.), and Giuliana D’Arcangelo (Brookfield H.S.).

Dana Blydenburg has been with the team for 8 years as both a first baseman and a pitcher. Her father/coach reported that she has consistently been 1 of the team’s top hitters. When the 2011 season ends next week, she will have played 397 games in a Breaker uniform. Zdrowski, who is both a pitcher and an outfielder, joined the team in 2009. Mark Blydenburg noted that she has been a very productive hitter with long ball power.

According to the Breakers’ mentor, “In addition to our experienced pitching staff, I think we have 1 of the most solid summer travel team defenses in the state. Nearly all of our players made All-Conference and/or All State honorable mention teams. There are significant differences between an average high school team and a summer travel team. My girls have told me several times that if our team was a high school team, we’d win state championships every year. I think they are right, but I’m not sure high school coaches would agree with them, unless they have also coached a summer travel team. Summer softball is played at a totally different level.”

He went on to insist that the Breakers have won far more games than he can remember due to their outstanding defensive play. Blydenburg also noted that his girls turned 18 double plays during the 2010 summer season.

He added, “I have been told over and over again by umpires, opposing coaches, and fans that the Breakers are one of the most fundamentally sound defensive teams that they have ever seen. Our pitchers have held opposing batters to around a .225 average and we allow about only 1.9 runs a game while scoring about 4.5 runs. As coaches, we stick to basics.  Teaching and practicing how to defend against a bunt and a squeeze play, turning double plays, cutoffs, tags, sliding, and defensive alignments, as well as hitting, pitching, and defensive skills. We do our best to recreate game situations at game speed so our players can work out kinks in real time. In addition, we spend a lot of time having our batters face live pitching. We don’t place much stock in pitching machines.”

Summing it all up, Blydenburg makes it very clear that while he has coached “about a million kids since my daughters first put on baseball gloves in the early 90’s” he has no regrets. In fact, he made it very clear that his years of coaching girls softball as been a labor of love.

“Being a coach and a father is never an easy balance but I firmly believe that I have made many more softball friends than enemies. I still get lots ‘Hi Coach Mark’ from girls I coached 10 or 15 years ago. My time as a coach has been as rewarding as I ever could have dreamed. I have been able to spend all this time with my daughters doing something we all enjoy. My approach has always been to treat all my players as I would treat my own daughters. This has been a true recipe for success. Many coaches make the mistake of treating their own kids differently from the others on the team—usually that means being harder on his or her own kids,” he said.

With a deep sigh, Blydenburg added, “I’m not sure when the last out is going to be called, but when it is, I’ll take a nice long rest. I also know I will also miss all my players, parents, and assistant coaches. knowing and working with them  is what this has all been about.”