Pictured from left, bottom row: Jordan Hoffman, Lucy Shea, Kailey Pacifico, Arden Benner, Sarah Light, Becky Blitz, Sofia Papa and Gwen Wells. Top row: Coach Mike Sabol, Mia Lawrence, Emma Horan, Jamiee McEntee, Coach Scott McEntee, Vanessa Sabol, Ava Goodman and Manager Chris Pacifico.
The Cinderella run ended on Sunday, August 2nd, as the 9/10 Robbinsville All Stars lost 6-3 in the 10U NJ State Tournament finals vs. Wallington, NJ.
Going into the State Tournament in Northfield, NJ, the Robbinsville girls were undefeated winning both the district 12 tournament and Section 3 as they outscored their opponents 63-4 in 6 games.
District 12 Championship -Robbinsville 11, West Windsor 0
Robbinsville came out in the top of the 1st with 5 runs. Vanessa Sabol, Sofia Papa and Kailey Pacifico all lead off the game with singles and after a walk to Becky Blitz, Mia Lawrence singled home 2 runs. In the 2nd inning. RLL added another 3 runs after key at bats from Arden Benner and Emma Horan. In the bottom of the 2nd, West Windsor got its first base runner who was soon caught stealing when catcher Gwen Wells threw a strike to Papa who applied a great tag for the inning’s 2nd out. Three runs were tacked on in the 3rd, again with 2 outs. After consecutive hits from Sabol, Papa and Pacifico, Lucy Shea ripped a single to center scoring Sabol and Papa.
Kailey Pacifico pitched a no hitter, only giving up one walk and striking out 11.
Section 3 Championship – Robbinsville 12 Lincroft 2
The RLL team jumped on top in the bottom of the 1st with a leadoff double into the left-centerfield gap by Vanessa Sabol and a bunt by Sofia Papa put her at third. Pacifico ripped a single to left for the 1st run of the game. Mia Lawrence delivered a 2 out single to center scoring Pacifico and Lucy Shea to make the score 3-0 after one inning. The team executed their bunts flawlessly in the later innings, lead by Arden Benner, Sarah Light, and Sofia Papa. Also leading the hitting attack by the Robbinsville girls (who had 12 hits in 4 innings) was Jaimee McEntee, Gwen Wells, Ava Goodman and Sarah Light.
Gwen Wells and Emma Horan made sparkling defensive plays for Robbinsville and Becky Blitz stole home twice to seal the win.
Come from behind win in state opener – Robbinsville 6 Swedesboro 5
Facing a tough left handed pitcher from Swedesboro in the NJ State opening game on July 30th, the R’ville girls found themselves down 4-0 going into to the top of the 4th inning. Sofia Papa lead off the inning getting hit by a pitch. From there, consecutive singles from Kailey Pacifico, Gwen Wells and Jaimee McEntee cut the deficit in half as the girls trailed 4-2 going into the bottom half of the inning. The girls from Tantum park weren’t done going into the 5th inning and their practices paid off as the girls delivered 3 more runs after Arden Benner lead the inning off with a perfectly placed bunt. Vanessa Sabol and Sofia Papa followed with
singles. Pacifico was hit by a pitch and Gwen Wells worked a walk setting the table for Jaimee McEntee with a go-ahead single giving our girls their first lead. In the 6th, Mia Lawrence had an awesome at bat and came around to score making the score 6-5. Pacifico pitched out of trouble turning a double play with McEntee in the bottom of the 6th to end the game in dramatic fashion.
Epic Battle – 12 inning loss to Wallington
In a game for the history books Robbinsville lost to Wallington in a battle that lasted over 3 1/2 hours. Facing a Wallington pitcher that held Robbinsville to 1 run over the first 5 innings, Kailey Pacifico matched her by getting out of jam after jam. With Robbinsville up 1-0 in the bottom of the 3rd inning, Wallington staged a rally that ended with a controversial play at the plate.
A single to centerfield brought in one run and when the second run tried to score the throw came to the plate. The Wallington runner and the ball arrived simultaneously as catcher Gwen Wells attempted to apply the tag. The Wallington runner did not slide and collided with Wells knocking the ball loose preventing what would have been the third out of the inning.
Despite Robbinsville’s protest, the umpire indicated that the runner “intended” to avoid the catcher and was therefore safe. Wallington lead 2-1 as the result of a questionable judgment call from the officiating crew.
Both pitchers then shut down the bats for both teams until the 6th. Robbinsville needed a run to keep the game going. Kailey Pacifico got on with the walk and stole second. Jaimee McEntee stepped to the plate with two outs. McEntee continued her hot hitting by lacing a single to right scoring Pacifico and tying the game.
To extra innings they went. Both pitchers were exhausted and battled inning for inning until the 12th.
Wallington lead off the 12th with an infield single. Their next hitter lined a ball to centerfield that the centerfielder made a great attempt on, but got past and rolled to the fence. The runner from first beat the relay throw home and Wallington outlasted Robbinsville in the 12 inning win.
Semi Final State Game – Robbinsville 3 Hanover 0
The 10U Robbinsville All Stars defeated Hanover 3-0 on Saturday afternoon (8/1) in Northfield. The girls showed true relenticy after batting Wallington the night before and returning to the field 12 hours later. Ava Goodman pitched 6 scoreless innings to lead the RLL All Stars to victory. Catcher Gwen Wells sparked the team with two hits and an RBI. Kailey Pacifico went 3 for 3 and Jordan Hoffman came up with a key hit in the later innings. The Robbinsville defense also showed strong with great plays from Arden Benner, Emma Horan and Vanessa Sabol.
State Championship Game Wallington 6 Robbinsville 3
The visiting Wallington jumped out to an early lead with a towering 2 run home run from their pitcher. Wallington scratched out 3 more runs leading into the 4th inning with Robbinsville down 5-1.
In the bottom half of the 4th, Becky Blitz hammered a ball to dead centerfield that hit the wall for a 2 run double. Robbinsville loaded the bases in both the 4th and 5th with two outs, but the Wallington pitcher came back strong to get out of it.
RLL battled hard but was unable to rally and lost 6-3. Wallington moves on to the Regional tournament where they will represent New Jersey.
The Robbinsville girls finished an amazing run where they had heart-stopping comebacks, a classic 12 inning game and many amazing individual performances. Each night, a different girl stepped up to make huge contributions and spark the team.
A special group of girls made an exciting run for parents, grandparents, siblings and coaches alike. Chants of “thank you coaches” and “thank you parents” could be heard from the girls after losing a tough game.
A huge thanks to coaches Mike Sabol, Scott McEntee and head coach Chris Pacifico for taking countless hours out of their days/nights to work with the girls and prepare for each tournament.
By Chris Pacifico
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