Massoni's Perfect Game Leads Slammers to Double Elimination Round

Coming into Tuesday's game against a team from Oswatomie, Kansas, the Levittown Slammers simply needed a victory to clinch a berth in the double elimination bracket of the Babe Ruth World Series.

Luckily for them, Ashley Massoni was perfect.

Massoni didn't allow a baserunner to reach in all seven innings Tuesday, erasing all doubt over whether Levittown would move on. Her fourteen-strikeout perfect game paved the way for a 7-0 Slammers victory and a second-place finish in pool play.

Massoni wasn't just perfect on the mound; she, along with teammate Sabrina Gordek, were perfect for the Slammers on offense. They each went 3-for-3 on the day, they each scored a run and they each drove in a run. Massoni added a home run (the first home run hit over a fence in pool play), while Gordek stole two bases.

"Every day, we have at least two girls that are heroes," said Slammers coach Mike Gordek. "Today it was Ashley and Sabrina. It was their day to shine. They carried us today."

Massoni's perfect game was the first no-hitter in the Babe Ruth World Series since 2006. There were no perfect games on record in the past five years, and according to Gordek, Babe Ruth officials are checking past records to see if any happened before 2006.

The perfect game capped a 3-1 stretch of pool play which saw the Slammers shut out all three of the opponents they defeated. Two of the shutouts were pitched by Massoni, with the other coming from Alannah Basile on Monday. Basile matched Massoni's 14 strikeouts on Monday.

The Slammers achieved their goal of getting out of pool play and reaching the double elimination bracket, a fact that made Gordek ecstatic, particularly because the Slammers weren't sure of the level of competition coming into the event.

"Most of the teams that qualify are from out west," he said. "You play a team you've never seen before, so you stick to the fundamentals that got you here. You don't change anything."

The unknown continues from here, as the Slammers will face a team from North Olympic, Washington in their first game of pool play on Wednesday. If they win, they play a second game against Wausau, Wisconsin, who went undefeated in the other of the two pools in the tournament. It's a tough task, but Gordek is confident in his team.

"My girls are playing well right now," he said. "Pitching is going real well right now. Hitting’s not going great, but they hit in the clutch when it matters. If we can stay in the winner's bracket, things will be great."

For box scores, stats and more from the Babe Ruth World Series, visit their website at http://baberuthonline.com/home/worldseries/world_sb16u.asp