New City 11-12 Softball All Stars Crowned District 18 Champions

The New City Little League 11-12 softball All Stars defeated Pearl River Monday night to be crowned the  2010 district 18 champions.

After being handed a tough loss, and their first of the season, by Pearl River Sunday, New City retaliated Monday night with hit after hit, eventually gaining a 14-3 lead to mercy Pearl River in the fourth.  #3 Sarah Brauer made her debut as pitcher for this All Star season, throwing a great game for New City.  She struck out two, walked only three, and made two great defensive plays to lead her team to victory Monday night.

"The bats came alive for us against a very good team," said Coach Frank Borelli in summing up the game.  "They held us down last night, but it's hard to hold this team down."

New City made sure that they would not be "held down" as they came out swinging from the beginning of the game.

New City started the rout in the first. #12 Briana Keaveney led off with a bunt and hustled to be safe at first.  #2 Nicole Ritsick then made a sacrifice bunt to advance Keaveney.  With one on and one out, #17 Melanie Lerche hit an RBI double to bring home Keaveney and put New City on the board.  #32 Sara Herskowitz followed with an RBI triple.  #7 Danielle Borelli then landed one for an RBI double to bring home Herskowitz.  #10 Carly Amatuzzo continued the rally with an RBI single, putting them up 4-0, which was not to be the last of the inning.

As cheers from the crowd continued to mount, so did the score.  #24 Laryssa Demkiw grounded into a fielder's choice, as Amatuzzo was thrown out at home.  Brauer and then #1 Sarah Semel followed this with singles to load the bases and bring back up Keaveney at the top of the order.  She hit a powerful shot, which fell in for a two RBI double to make the score 6-0.  Ritsick then reached first on a single RBI to right field, which brought home the final run of the inning.  Brauer, Semel, and Keaveney were stranded as Pearl River was finally able to get out of the inning when Lerche grounded out to third.

Two got on in the bottom of the first off errors and were then brought home on a shot to center field.  Brauer then struck out the next and Amatuzzo fielded a grounder to get the final out of the inning at first.  This brought them to the top of the second, where New City continued to build on their lead.

Herskowitz connected for a lead off double deep into center field.  Borelli then brought her home with a single for her second RBI of the night.  Amatuzzo then singled to bring up Demkiw.  She connected, but was out at first, leaving Amatuzzo caught between second and third.  Amatuzzo was out sliding into second, however Borelli took the opportunity to steal home and put them up by seven.  Brauer then popped out to third to close the inning.

Brauer closed the second quickly with a 1, 2, 3 inning by striking out one, fielding a grounder for an out at first, and catching a pop fly.  This brought New City up in the third, where their bats continued to light up Pearl River.  Semel led off with a single, followed by a Keaveney single, and a walk to Ritsick to load the bases.  Lerche then popped out to left to bring up Herskowitz.  Semel jumped on a ball in the dirt to Herskowitz to steal home.  After taking another ball and a strike, Herskowitz slugged a triple deep into right center field to bring home Keaveney and Ritsick for her second and third RBIs of the game.  Borelli followed this up with a single to center field for the final run of the inning.

Brauer kept Pearl River from scoring in the bottom third and Lerche tacked on another run for New City in the top of the fourth to bring the score to 14-2.  With the mercy rule in effect, Pearl River needed to score three to continue the game.  Lerche let up an error for a single to start the inning, however she followed this up with two solid defense plays, fielding two grounders for outs at first.  Pearl River brought one home off a single to left field, however, Ritsick closed the game for New City, catching a fly ball for the final out of the game.

New City's spectacular performance was led by Sarah Brauer, who pitched a great game to secure the championship title for her team against a tough opponent and last year's champions.  Leading the team on the offensive end were Sara Herskowitz and Danielle Borelli.  Herskowitz had an excellent performance, as she batted three for four with three RBIs from two triples and a double.  Borelli had an exceptional game, batting three for three, bringing in three RBIs off a double and two singles, and stealing home to score a total of four runs for her team.  Melanie Lerche and Briana Keaveney had great offensive games as well, with two RBIs a piece for the night.  With a monstrous lineup like this, New City is set to go far in the sectionals.

Following the game, the two teams shook hands as the spectators took the field cheering to celebrate with their team.  The runners up were congratulated and then the members of the district champion New City All Stars were announced.  Coach Amatuzzo was thrilled with his team's performance, saying "Our girls really stepped up,  but hats off to Pearl River, they played an excellent series and are very well coached.  #3 Sarah Brauer came in and pitched a gem for us after not pitching for a couple of games, which is not an easy thing to do."

After the game, Coach Borelli expressed his appreciation for the community on behalf of his team. 

"The team really appreciates all the support we have received from the New City community," said Borelli.  "It really gave the girls a lot of confidence knowing everyone was behind us."  Truly, it is rare and wonderful to see a community that so fully supports its little league.

New City will play their first game of sectionals, hosted by the Beekman Little League, at 6 pm on Thursday.