Robbinsville Little League 12-year-old softball manager Jon Iorio felt the summer of 2015 was not a season of growing pains for the team, but a season of growth.
Growth that has continued one summer later.
With nine 11-year-olds playing in the 12-year-old District 12 tournament last year, Robbinsville upset favored East Windsor for the title and went on to win the Section 3 title as well. In both tournaments, Robbinsville emerged from the elimination bracket to win two games on consecutive Friday nights to claim the titles.
The 2015 run ended in the state tournament, but with the nucleus of that squad returning, RLL was looking every bit like a team capable of doing big things this summer. At press time, RLL had gone 3-0 in the East Region Tournament in Bristol, Connecticut to advance to July 28’s regional final.
While going 10-1 in winning the districts, sectionals and states, Robbinsville outscored its opponents by combined 113-16. In six district and state wins, the Tantum Park Crew outscored foes, 65-3.
“Last year, we learned what the tournaments were like,” first baseman Alexa Klepper said. “We didn’t expect to go past districts last year. We made it out and it taught us to keep trying our best and keep up the hard work and make our town proud.”
“I think we’re a little bit more confident this year,” pitcher Brynn Hopkins said. “I’m not saying we’re the favorite team to win it, but we’re much stronger this year than last year, and I have a good infield behind me.”
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Robbinsville entering the regionals, is that it didn’t just blow everyone out. It faced a pressure situation and responded.
After beating Lincroft, host team Holbrook and Ocean Township by a combined 37-7, Robbinsville was stunned by Lincroft. That set up the winner-take-all “if” game. Robbinsville scored two in the top of the sixth for a 5-3 lead only to see Lincroft respond with three in the bottom of the inning to win the game.
They took an hour break for lunch and then came right back to play, with Lincroft having all that momentum and Robbinsville suffering adversity for the first time this tournament season.
“Their response to that loss was just like, it never happened,” Iorio said. “It was amazing, it was crazy.”
As the girls ate their lunch, the manager wandered over “ready to give them some kind of rah rah speech,” but discovered they were already talking amongst themselves. Iorio stopped to listen before speaking up.
“They were saying, ‘Let’s just go out there and win this game because it feels like we’re going to.’” Iorio said. “They had so much confidence, it was as if the loss minutes before never happened. Their minds were totally clear of that game and they were ready to go out and do whatever they had to do in that final.”
It was at that moment Iorio hit his mute button.
“I took the opportunity to shut up for a change and let them convince themselves they were good to go in that sectional final,” he said. “It was great. I was so proud of them.”
Robbinsville promptly went out and took a 6-0 victory to continue its quest of becoming the fifth RLL team to reach the World Series in nine years and first since the league won it all in 2014.
“We were full of confidence going into the second game,” second baseman Kenzie Martin said. “We just said we had to get the job done, we wanted the hard work to pay off. We believed in ourselves, we knew we could beat them. We were full of confidence.”
Plus, the girls knew there was some history to live up to.
“We wanted to keep the tradition going, and we just want to show everyone what we can do,” Klepper said. “We want to live up to the expectations of everyone succeeding in the World Series in the previous tournaments.”
“We just wanted to prove to everyone in our town we could do it so we had that extra confidence to keep us going,” Martin said. “We were pumped up to win, because we knew we could and we were ready to play.”
After that, Robbinsville blew through the states without allowing a run. As it turned out, Iorio’s non-speech prior the sectional final fit into the overall plan he and coaches Steve Krebs and Joe Hopkins have laid out.
“They hear enough from us,” Iorio said. “I really do want them to coach themselves, which is something they have begun to do. They’ve begun to mature. They amaze me. They catch things during the game that are really sort of advanced understanding of the game. They’re 12- and 13-years old picking up on stuff. We try to impart our knowledge to them and they do a real good job of absorbing it.”
Iorio brought up such examples about talking defensive strategy during the game and discussing what pitch to look for on a certain count.
“All the stuff we’re trying to teach them, and lo and behold, they’re acting on it,” Iorio said. “They’re coaching themselves, which is what I always wanted. I always wanted us to be their guide, more so than telling them every single thing they need to do. They’re really getting good at understanding the game. It’s a pleasure to watch.”
The veteran lineup has Martin leading off, followed by catcher Ella Iorio, Hopkins, Klepper, leftfielder Bella Truelove, centerfielder Kailey Pacifico, third baseman Shea Krebs, shortstop Becca Siracusa and rightfielder Jillian Hutt. The reserves feature outfielders Vanessa Sabol, Aubrey Strand and Sofia Papa, and catcher Gwen Wells.
Hopkins continues to progress in the tradition of past Robbinsville greats, with Iorio calling her “as reliable a pitcher as you’ll see anywhere in the state. It’s safe to say she’s one of the best pitchers you’ll see from her age anywhere in the country.”
Having improved each year, Hopkins is experimenting, and getting comfortable, with new types of pitches. She has the ability to get a big out or a shutdown inning when needed, and is also outstanding when it comes to needing a big game.
“There’s nobody I’d put in front of her in an important spot,” Iorio said. The manager added that she is unable to blow hitters away with her fastball as much as when she was younger. And while hitters are making more contact, they are not getting barrels on the ball either. When they do hit it, the gloves are there for Robbinsville.
“It’s amazing,” Hopkins said. “I can definitely rely on my fielders behind me.”
“We have a very, very solid defense behind her, and they’ve come through time and time again in real tight spots,” Iorio said. “In the past, they didn’t have a lot of balls hit to them because Brynn struck out a lot of batters. Now, hitters are getting bigger and stronger, catching up to fast pitching and putting it in play. We’ve really turned up our defensive play.”
Iorio cited Siracusa, Ella Iorio, Krebs, Hutt and Martin as the glue to the defensive effort, noting that each one consistently makes the routine plays and, on occasion, the great plays.
Overall, it had already become a memorable summer heading into the regionals.
“They all get along, they work hard and they play well,” Iorio said. “They know when it’s time to mess around and have fun, and they know when it’s time to get down to brass tacks and get serious.”
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