Front, left to right: Gracyn Antosiewicz, Katie Simonka, Bianca Walsh, Braylie LaFisca and Kalia Castiglione. Center, left to right: Bianca Pesce, Holly Muni, Amber DeWitt, Kara Weaver, Marcella Samayoa and Naomi Blackburn. Top, left to right: Wally Antosiewicz, George Simonka, Mike Walsh and Kevin Blackburn.
By Jashvina Shah
The Hamilton Hurricanes 8U softball team started the summer season with limited experience. The squad ended it with a trip to the Babe Ruth World Series and a Diamond Bracket championship.
“A lot of the teams that we played had a lot more experience than us,” manager George Simonka said. “But I felt as the season progressed, the girls got better and better and they really rose to the occasion as the season went on.”
To combat the team’s inexperience, Simonka said the coaching staff stayed patient with the team.
The squad was made up of Gracyn Antosiwiecz, Naomi Blackburn, Kalia Castiglione, Amber DeWitt, Braylie LaFisca, Holly Muni, Bianca Pesce, Marcella Samayoa, Katie Simonka, Bianca Walsh and Kara Weaver.
“We had a plan in place at the beginning of the season how we were going to progress the girls long throughout the season,” Simonka said. “The fact that they got better and better throughout the season allowed me to expand their horizons and allow them to make more plays in the field and just teach them more advanced things as the season went along.”
The Hurricanes won two qualifiers for the Babe Ruth World Series, including one that Hamilton hosted in June. At the Babe Ruth World Series in Newberry, Florida, from July 29 to Aug. 5, the Hurricanes lost their first game to eventual tournament champions. This was the first year an 8U tournament was held.
Hamilton lost its second game in pool play and finished the round with a 1-2 record. But after winning their last game in pool play, the Hurricanes won their next three contests to take the Diamond Bracket, the World Series’s elimination bracket.
That included a 12-11 comeback win in the Diamond Bracket championship game, which featured a comeback after the Hurricanes trailed 11-0 in the bottom of the third.
“[I told them] just stay in the game, score a few runs every inning and play good defense and not allow them to score anymore runs,” Simonka said. “[I said] just to not get down and stay positive. We’ll score a few runs each inning and get closer and closer and we could still win the game.”
The Hurricanes listened, and the team responded with five runs in the bottom of the third, cutting the deficit to 11-5.
“They were certainly disappointed when we went down 11-0, but these girls throughout the whole season if they got down, if we were losing, they never gave up,” Simonka said.
Hamilton’s defense stepped up, and the team added two runs in the bottom of the fourth and three in the fifth. Trailing 11-10, the Hurricanes scored twice in the sixth to take the championship.
“As we started coming back, there was a lot more excitement on the bench, they were into the game a lot more. . I think that led to our good defense in the last three innings as well. They were very determined after that in that game,” Simonka said.
Simonka said the best part of the World Series was the team bonding.
“It was great to see [how] they bonded as a team, even off the softball field,” Simonka said. “They bonded so well together. We did activities with them outside of softball [like] swimming in the pool, bowling, eating dinner together.”
To make the trip to Florida, the team leaned on fundraisers. The squad held carwashes, collected money outside of Shoprite in Hamilton and received donations from several corporations. The team received financial support from Texas Roadhouse, Hamilton Honda, Hamilton Mazda, JoJo’s Tavern, Massimo’s Pizzeria, Princeton Driving School and softball instructor Jerry Herrera.
Along with the Diamond Bracket championship, the Hurricanes also finished the season as a runner up in the Babe Ruth District Tournament and participants in the Babe Ruth State Tournament.
“I’d say the biggest word I would use for this team was resilient. There were several times throughout the season that we may have been losing going into the last inning. We may have gotten down during games but we came back and won several games,” Simonka said.“I had a group of dedicated girls who attended every practice. They were very willing to learn [and] listened very well, which is great for an eight and under team. I think that as excellent for me as a manager.”
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