The Bordentown Little League 10-year-old all-star softball girls already have plenty of big wins in their young careers.
But winning the New Jersey Section 3 tournament to advance to the New Jersey State Tournament was something completely new.
“They’ll definitely always remember this,” said Bordentown manager Jeremy Martino. “Whether we win or lose, to be able to go this far, it’s just an awesome story. A lot of these girls, it’s their last chance of 10U. And so now this is their last opportunity at this and some of them only get one opportunity.
“We’ve played a lot of tournaments in travel and everything and they won’t remember every single tournament, but they will always remember as they get older, they’ll tell their kids about it and grandkids if they’re playing ball, I made it this far in Little League.”
The Bordentown 10s team consists of: Amber Barkosky, Lily Cooper, Giuliana DeClerico, Agnes Gendek, Teagan Harris, Skylar Keating, Olivia Kelly, Ashley Martino, Maxine Portadin, Giuliani Rossi, Myla Savoy and Sophia Stefani. Assistant coaches are Frank Barkosky and Richard Rossi.
Most of the 12 team members have been playing together since Martino first entered them in travel softball together. From the outset, they were a strong group and they’ve only gotten better through the years.
“They’ve definitely come super far,” Martino said. “When we started coach pitch, even at coach pitch, they were all a bunch of hitters. We definitely have a really talented group of young girls, and they just always seem to amaze me. They’re always working hard to get better. They definitely have came really far this past season on our outfield work, catching fly balls toward the end of our season. You like to see them progress as we’re about to finish out our 10U and go to 12U.”
If the Bordentown 10s could win the state tournament — they opened with a 6-1 win over Pitman on July 18 to reach the winners’ bracket final in the double-elimination tournament hosted by Cherry Hill American Little League — they would advance to the East Region Invitational Tournament at Staten Island, N.Y. Their first focus, however, was winning states.
“They’re ready,” Martino said. “We had quite a few days rest after our last game, and we had a couple days of practice. And we had the state dinner banquet, which was an awesome time. The girls had a blast there. We went over a couple of things in the week’s practice that we needed to work on from sectionals. I think the girls are definitely prepared for what’s in store for them ahead.”
Their Little League run began at home. As hosts of the District 12 Little League tournament, Bordentown won three straight games to take home their first LL banner of the summer. They opened with an 8-1 win over Robbinsville, ran over Florence, 10-0, and then held off Robbinsville, 5-1, in the title game.
“It was really awesome,” Martino said. “I was really thankful that we got the bid to host 10s of districts. And the town definitely came through. They definitely packed the park for sure. They were wrapped around the outfield and the girls were really happy to see all the fans that came out to support them.”
Fans also turned out to support the Bordentown 12-year-old all-star softball team when they hosted their Section 3 tournament. The 12s pulled out a pair of narrow wins in districts to advance and be able to play in front of their home crowds.
“Bordentown is a big softball town,” Martino said. “That’s probably one of our better sports within the town. It’s like football down in Texas, that’s how Bordentown is for softball games.”
The 10s team has been rolling along all summer. After marching through the districts with a 23-2 margin of victory in their three games, the Bordentown 10s faced more challenging games in the Section 3 tournament hosted in Freehold Township. Against the hosts, Bordentown opened play by rallying for a 3-1 win in eight innings, a sure sign that the sections would bring stiffer competition.
“This group is battle tested,” Martino said. “In Bordentown we use travel softball to help our Little League program and three years ago I started the travel team and so these girls, they’ve been together playing for a long time, they’ve built great friendships together and they gel very well. We got a few other girls on the team and it’s definitely a solid squad. This past season in travel, we’ve had quite a few games where these girls were battle tested. We had, I think, three extra-inning games this season.”
Bordentown had trailed Freehold, 1-0, before tying the hosts midway through the regulation six innings. It was tied after six innings and still tied after seven innings before Bordentown scored twice in the top of the eighth inning and held off Freehold for the win.
“I put them in a lot of high level tournaments,” Martino said. “They’ve played against good club teams and I think with all that over the past three years and working hard, it definitely got us through sectionals.”
The second game of sections was a pitcher’s duel. Bordentown, behind Gendek in the circle, pulled out the 2-0 win over Sayreville to put themselves in control of the winners’ bracket. When Sayreville came back around needing to win twice over Bordentown, it was too much with Bordentown pulling away for a 9-2 championship-clinching victory.
“We gave up a couple of runs and the pitcher got a little down on herself, but then she ended up battling back. I couldn’t be more proud of her,” said Martino. “And the girls certainly were hitting the ball. So. Those were making plays on defense, which you know was really nice to see, and we definitely got the bats going and we end up winning 9-2 for the championship game. We’re super proud of these girls. They’ve put a lot of time in and I’m excited to see how far they can take this.”
Bordentown was challenged more in the sections than districts, but the results were the same. Bordentown has proven tough to score on with no one managing more than two runs in a game through the first seven Little League contests of the summer.
“The girls have definitely made some real nice plays out there,” Martino said. “Our last game was the game when we were tested the most in the section championship game. Defensively, I was really happy to see that rolling into states. Even if our pitcher’s maybe not throwing her best game that day, but she’s still doing incredible, it’s nice for her to know I’ve got a defense behind me, which is great. Overall, we’ve got the pitching, the fielding and the hitting. So I think the girls can go real far with the team we have for sure.”
The fielding continues to develop each year. They have backed the pitching with solid defense whenever called upon in the first two rounds of Little League.
“They’ve been doing incredible,” Martino said. “They always know where to cover in every situation. We’ve been working on rundowns and everything. They’re like a sponge. They just absorb it very well. We’re super proud.”
Offensively, the group has shown they could hit from the first time they started playing travel. They’ve continued to develop through the years. They have shown throughout the Little League run the ability to score runs a number of ways.
“It’s been a mixture of things depending on how the game plays out,” Martino said. “We play some small ball and then we have a lot of big boppers for sure. We definitely can play a power game and hit around the outfield. We do hitting all the time with these girls because without hitting you’re not going to win these games no matter how good a pitcher you have. We focus on hitting all the time and we definitely have a good group of hitters.”
The players have been tested before, and the Little League tournament is giving them an opportunity to play some more meaningful games. Four of the players were on last year’s Bordentown 10s team that advanced to sections. Gendek, Keating, Ashley Martino and Stefani all gained experience in that run last year. All of the girls have extensive travel experience and it has shown in handling the pressures of each game well.
“For travel, we definitely played a lot of tough tournaments and I feel like this is what I wanted to do to get them prepared for this situation,” Martino said. “This was like the big picture from the day we started this. So it’s really cool to see them taking it this far.”
Martino has marveled at the resilience of the group. No matter the situation, they have continued to strive for success. He was first impressed with a big comeback when they were only 8-year-olds.
“I remember a game we were we were down by 10 runs and I told the girls keep your heads up, it was only the end of the third,” Martino said. “I just said this game wasn’t over. And they ended up coming back and winning the game, which you know was incredible and if we get in that situation when we’re down, I always remind them of that time. They definitely are a group of fighters. I don’t know how. I guess it’s just the group of girls we have.”
For all but Rossi and Cooper, this is their last chance at the 10-year-old level. Rossi and Cooper are young enough to come back to 10s next year, while the others will be moving up to the 12U level. That will be the next challenge for a group that’s already creating some incredible memories this summer with their farthest run yet.
“I hope this group sticks it together over the next couple two more years and then ends up playing 12U together,” Martino said. “I think we could definitely make another good run.”
Bordentown Little League softball 10-year-old all-stars (front row) Sophia Stefani, Maxine Portadin, Lily Cooper, Myla Savoy, Giuliana DeClerico, Skylar Keating, (middle row) Teagan Harris, Giuliana Rossi, Olivia Kelly, Ashley Martino, Amber Barkosky, Agnes Gendek and (back row) Coaches Rich Rossi, Jeremy Martino and Frank Barkosky.,
