NCLL 10-And-Under Softball Team Wins First Game of Summer

With a runner on second base and two outs and a 1-2 count on the fourth batter of the top of the first inning, Francesca Borelli wound up and pitched a ball that took a bit longer to reach the catcher’s mitt than any of her previous pitches that inning.

The batter swung fairly early, missing the ball completely, and Borelli practically skipped off to the dugout, giddy with excitement. For she had just thrown a changeup, and while she’s thrown them in games before, never like this one, which sailed almost in slow motion over the inner-half of the plate against the right-handed batter.

“This was the best one I’ve ever thrown. I decided I wanted to throw a changeup there, and just really focused on throwing it,” she said. “The first inning was my best by far.”

While Borelli didn’t mix speeds too much Monday night, she was in command as the New City Little League 10-and-under all-star softball team opened their summer tournament with a 5-1 victory against Congers at Hemlock Field in Congers. She pitched all six innings, striking out 10-plus. It was each team’s first game, and both of them are scheduled to play again tonight, although neither side knew their opponent yet.

But Borelli wasn’t out there along against Congers, either.

“My teammates did a good job in the field,” she said.

Some timely plays in the field saved a few runs for New City, mainly in the last inning of the game, the top of the sixth. New City was up 5-1 at that point, but Congers was steadily building momentum and threatening to score with runners on second and third and only one out for Rebecca Stark, Congers’ number five hitter and Borelli’s opposing pitcher Monday night.

On a pitch up in the zone, Stark connected, shooting off her bat and heading for center field, and most likely plating both runners. New City’s second baseman Lilly Medici got a great jump on the ball to her right, reached across her body and snagged the line drive with her left hand. She raced to second base to try and get the double play, but heads up base running by Congers wasn’t going to allow the game to end there.

“I didn’t know if she was going to catch it, but she got to it,” Borelli said.

New City Manager Tom Keaveney said Medici wasn’t even the team’s regular second baseman initially, but moved to the position because of an injury. She practiced there with the team Saturday and Sunday, he said. He also wasn’t sure if she would get to the ball.

“Maybe in a few years, or with a few more hours of practice,”  he said. “That was a huge play.”

Even though New City won by four runs, the game was much closer than the final score indicated. New City scored first, when Sara Ferraro drove in a run by grounding  out to first with a runner on third in the bottom of the third.

Congers answered back in the top of the fourth, when Allison Fray singled to center to score Britney Fata, who ripped a single to left field to kick off the inning, and then advanced to second and third on consecutive passed balls.

The game remained tied at one until the bottom of the fifth, when New City broke the game open. Leading off the inning, Halley Medici reached on a perfect bunt down the first base line. She then stole second base and reached third on a passed ball. Borelli then walked, and instead of simply jogging down the line, she took off for first, made a wide turn and continued running to second. The ball was thrown to second base, where Borelli was tagged out, but it allowed Medici to race home for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run.

Ailis Daly then reached on another bunt, stole second and scored after Kelly Cassidy bunted and the throw to first sailed into right field. Ferraro walked next, and then she and Cassidy executed a double-steal. Cassidy scored on a single by Megan Keaveney, and Ferraro scored New City’s final run on a groundout by Lilly Medici.

The frequent bunting and stealing was all part of Tom Keaveney’s game plan.

“The short game comes first. That’s all the bunting,” he said. “Then we have to be aggressive on the bases. Those are the ways to manufacture runs.”

Congers Manager Darryl Popkave was disappointed his team lost, but not in their effort.

“It was a great game,” he said. “We we right in it until that fifth inning.”

Popkave also said this was Congers Little League’s first year with a 10-and-under softball all-star team in many years, although he didn’t know the exact number, so it was great for the league just to field a team again.

“This is what it should be,” he said. “It’s all about the kids and getting them on the field and having a good time.”

The New City 10-and-under team plays today at 5:30 p.m., followed by the 12-and-under team playing at 7:30 p.m. at Strawtown Field.

The New City American 9-10-year-old baseball team also defeated Ramapo, 14-2, at Liberty Field in Valley Cottage on Monday night.