The Levittown Slammers' World Series Experience, Part 2

Editor's Note: On Thursday, we ran Part 1 of a two-part interview with four members of the Levittown Slammers softball team, who finished in third place at the Babe Ruth 16-and-under World Series. Yesterday, the players spoke about the unknowns they faced when they arrived. Today, they reflect on the games themselves.

Once the Slammers got to Lamar and settled in, their focus was solely on the games they had to play. They got off to a good start, beating the Colorado state champion by a 10-0 score. They were excited, but they knew they still had a lot of work ahead of them.

"It felt great to win the first game, but I didn’t want to take advantage of it," said Alannah Basile. "We watched some other teams play, and we saw their competition. We knew every game wasn’t going to be an easy game, but it felt good to start off on the right foot."

A loss to eventual champion Wilson County in the second game of pool play briefly set them back. But they won their third game of pool play in walk-off fashion. They then clinched a spot in bracket play on the strength of Ashley Massoni's perfect game, the first in World Series play to date.

The perfect game wasn't something that most of the players processed until late in the game. (Basile and Toniann Pasqueralle didn't realize until the fifth, while Kaitlin Mars didn't know until there were three outs left.) Looking back, though, they were proud of their teammate.

"I’m happy for Ashley because Ashley works hard," said Alexa Serrano. "She pulls us through a lot. Every game, somebody stepped up, and Ashley happened to really bring it that day. We didn’t have to do as much behind her."

Two wins on the first day of pool play put the Slammers in good position. But they fell to Wilson County again the next day. They were eliminated on the following day by Wausau, Wisconsin, but not before they provided one more moment of magic - a sixth-run sixth inning that erased a 7-1 deficit.

"I turned to my dad after and said ‘You know what, I’m proud of what I did today,'" said Pasqueralle. "'I’m proud of what the team did today and that we got this far.’ It was upsetting because it didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to, but we gave them a good game."

The Slammers were upset in the immediate aftermath of their elimination. But looking back nearly a week later, their memories were fond, and they were glad they went.

“Definitely the experience of a lifetime,” said Mars. “When you’re little, and you’re watching the girls on TV, and you’re like “I’ll never be there.’ Then you realize ‘Oh, wow, I’m actually here.’ It’s something you’ll only do once, and it’s something you’ll always remember.

To read Patch's reports on the Slammers' run at the Babe Ruth World Series, click here.