The 10u Team went 1-1-1 in pool play from Thursday through Saturday entering bracket play as the 3 seed. They faced off vs Pearl River in the semi-finals and jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on a two run double by Ariella Santana followed by an RBI single from Grace van der Leeuw. Pearl River came back with 1 each in the first and 2nd while Nanuet added to their lead on another run scoring double by Ariella. Nanuet was able to extend their lead in the 4th and 5th with an RBI single from Riley Hyland to bring the lead to 9-4. Pearl River struck in the bottom of the 5th cutting the lead to 9-6. Grace van der Leeuw pitched her heart out as she had done all weekend while limiting the PR damage and keeping Nanuet ahead, keeping the PR bats at bay and striking out 3 on the day. PR was able to cut the lead to 1 in the bottom of the 6th and with 1 out, runners on 2nd and 3rd, Nanuet went to Carly Ciallella to close it out. Julia Jacobson was lightning quick to a passed ball and with a perfect toss to Carly the battery was able to catch the tying run at home to preserve the lead. On the next pitch, Carly struck out the last PR batter to secure the victory for Nanuet, 9-8. Nanuet was bolstered by fantastic defense in this one with Casey Vassilakis flashing the leather at 2nd base with a pair of fantastic sliding catches.
On to the Championship game against WNNVCC where Nanuet again jumped out to an early lead after some great baserunning from Casey, Olivia Chaput, and Julia were all able to steal home in the first 2 innings. WNNVCC came back to tie it at 3 after the 2nd. Nanuet took the lead again in the 3rd with opportunistic base running from the top of the order and an RBI single from Grace and Nanuet lead 8-3 after 3 but WNNVCC came back to score 3 of their own to cut it to 8-6. Another Grace RBI made it 9-6 in the top of the 5th and with spectacular defense led by Casey and Ariella Nanuet put together a 3 pitch - 3 out inning in the 5th. WNNVCC had one more rally as they cut the lead to 9-7 in the 6th but Carly was able to strike out the last two batters to finish things off and secure the title for Nanuet! Carly pitched the complete game striking out 9. Enough can't be said about the defense played by Nanuet in both games, Julia Jacobson battled the heat and caught all 12 innings on the day and the right side of the infield led by Casey and Ariella made big play after big play to keep Nanuet ahead. These wins were total team efforts as patience at the plate and great baserunning were instrumental to the victories.
Huge thank you to Manager Steve Hyland and coaches Tara Soprano and Matt Walmsley on all their efforts leading these young ladies over the past few weeks.