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Date: 7/13/2022
EAST LONGMEADOW – Despite this being the first year that East Longmeadow Softball Association joined with Little League, creating the East Longmeadow Little League 12 and under (12U), the team won the district championship against other teams from Western Massachusetts and will soon face off in a tournament to see if they can win against teams from across the state.
The team plays fast pitch softball, the type played in the Olympics, college softball and the American Women’s Professional Fastpitch League. Fastpitch differs from slowpitch in the speed at which balls are thrown and the power with which they are hit. Also, the former has one more inning and one fewer player on the field than the latter.
Karen Phillips is one of four coaches, all with children on the team. Phillips and fellow coaches Nicole Chaszar, Elaine Agosti and Kerry Skillin all played softball as children and teens and said their knowledge of the game and experience has helped keep their children interested in it.
Pitcher Angela Penna, who has been playing since first grade, said she enjoys “being with people who have the same love of the game.” Her teammate Saviana Amore agrees. She said the social aspect is what she enjoys the most. Player Emma Beagle said playing on the team has made her more confident. Emma Maurer said it is her teammates and coaches that keep her coming back each year.
A lot of the players started out with T-ball as four- and five-year-olds and transitioned to softball in the first grade. The 13 players on the team, two fifth-graders and the rest in Grade 6, practice together twice a week and most of the players practice in their own time as well. “They’re super committed,” Phillips said.
Watching the bright yellow balls thrown back and forth as the team warmed up, Phillips said, “I don’t think [the players] understand the magnitude of how big a deal it is,” to have come this far and be playing in the tournaments, Phillips said.
On July 7, the team began competing in the “sectional” tournament against the other four districts in the state. As of July 11, with one game left to go in the tournament, the team was 1-2. Skillin said the East Longmeadow players held their own against the best teams in the state. The winner of the sectionals will go on to regionals, where they will compete against the top teams from New England, New York, New Jersey and Delaware. From there, the winning team will compete in the 2022 Little League Softball World Series.