Girls Little League Softball of Wallingford: What's New
Photo by: Chris Angileri /Record-JournalCoach John Marks, left, talks with his Wallingford Panthers shortly before the start of their game, the last of the fall-ball season. The Panthers, part of the Wallingford Girls Little League-Fast Pitch, were playing against the Wallingford Cougars at Pragemann Park Monday night. Standing in front of the coach are, from left, Samantha Czaja, Cassie Czentnar, Paige Whitney and Summer Gladnet. All the girls in the league are 9 or 10 years old.
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Wallingford 10/11 & AAA Divisions Take State Championship
Wallingford girls make a loud statement By John Pettit Record-Journal staff WALLINGFORD Queens we are the Champions blared from a car stereo system. There were hugs and high fives and a victory lap around a softball field at Pragemann Park. Oh my, how far Girls Little League Softball of Wallingford has come. In just its sixth season, the league captured its first fast-pitch state championship Tuesday night. Wallingfords 10- and 11-year-old all-stars, already District 5 champs, disposed of Rocky Hill 20-8 to take home the hardware. It was a dream to win a state championship, but not this quick, league president Ken Kish said. These kids started as tee-balers as 5- and 6-year kids. Now they are state champions. It is recognition on the state level that Wallingford has become very competitive in fast-pitch softball. Hopefully we are becoming a good feeder program for both high schools. Wallingford and Rocky Hill, the District 7 titlists, both entered Tuesday 5-1 in the postseason. Manager Joe Barbiutos squad, the visiting team Tuesday based on a coin flip, used patience to build a 7-0 lead on Rocky Hill in the first inning. Wallingford took advantage of seven walks, two wild pitches and a hit batter in the top half of the frame. A lot of our success came down to pitching and a lot of it came down to listening, Barbiuto said. Our pitching was great and we played smart softball. We told them to wait until (Rocky Hills) pitcher threw a strike to start their at-bat. It paid off (Tuesday) and it paid off throughout the whole tournament. Rocky Hill pulled to within 8-7 after four innings, but Wallingford went back to work in the fifth, scoring 12 runs. Kim Clark had two singles and an RBI in the inning, while Jessica Pereira and Cassie Acampora drilled RBI singles. Rocky Hill plated one run in the bottom of the fifth, but it wasnt enough and the game was halted early because of the 10-run mercy rule. Acampora picked up the mound win. We just did what we had to do, she said. It feels great to win a state championship. It feels almost like it happened too fast. Wallingford right-fielder Lindsay Server agreed, but she called her teammates a special group. You have to work really hard, she said. You have to really want it. Players from both teams received medals after the game. Wallingford posed for pictures and paraded around the field carrying its state championship banner. Then the teams joined for a pizza party. The other Wallingford team members are Katie Gill, Alexis Bukowski, Alena Buonocore, Julia Pizzuti, Ashley Petit, Sarah Church, Lindsey Ferguson, Bristyn Barbiuto and Coach Marion Kish.
Our Concession Stand Needs YOUR Help
The concession stand took much effort to establish, and has been VERY successful. Revenue from the stand has helped keep registration fees low, provided equipment for the girls, and supported the youth umpire program.
All this will not be possible without YOUR help.
PLEASEIf you can, come and help out in the concession stand on an evening or a weekend for a couple of hours so we can keep these programs going.
GLLSOW Apparel is HERE!!
From California Little League
Thank You Coaches
From The New York Times Magazine:
We listened to the man because he had something to tell us, and us alone. Not how to play baseball, though he did that better than anyone. Not how to win, though winning was wonderful. Not even how to sacrifice. He was teaching us something far more important: how to cope with the two greatest enemies of a well-lived life, fear and failure. To make the lesson stick, he made sure we encountered enough of both. I never could have explained at the time what he had done for me, but I felt it in my bones all the same. When I came home one day during my senior year and found the letter saying that, somewhat improbably, I had been admitted to Princeton University, I ran right back to school to tell Coach Fitz. Then I grew up.
Thanks to the coaches for all you do.
Read the Complete Article
Thursday, July 24
Girls league introduces youths to fast-pitch game
By Megan Vitali, Record-Journal staff
WALLINGFORD For those who believe Little League is just for baseball players, think again.
Nearly 300 local athletes participate in the Girls Little League Softball of Wallingford, an organization created three years ago in an attempt to introduce youths to fast-pitch softball at an earlier age.
"We started because the girls needed an avenue to play fast-pitch softball," said league president Ken Kish.
"They didn't have that opportunity in slow-pitch recreational leagues. Now the players can start to see pitching with no arc at age 7 or 8 and learn how to hit it. "
"The thought process was to gear the girls towards middle school and high school fast-pitch softball," added Chris Gavin, one of the coaches of the Wallingford Little League's 9-10-year-old all-star team that is playing in the state sectional tourney this week.
"We wanted to expose them to fast-pitch at a younger age, in hopes that it will prepare them for later on."
In addition to seeing faster, arc-less pitching, the Little League softball experience also allows its players to encounter aspects of the game they would not normally in recreational leagues.
"The ball comes in faster, but they're also learning how to steal, bunt, and take bases on a passed ball, which are things they're not allowed to do in recreational softball," explained Kish.
"The position of catcher becomes more important, and pitching becomes more important it's brought to a whole new level. They get ready for what softball is like in the middle schools and high schools."
"The fast pitch benefits the girls both offensively and defensively," added Kevin Gaetano, a Wallingford 9-10-year-old division all-star coach.
"At the same time that they're learning to hit that kind of pitching, in the field they're becoming better prepared because with the ball being pitched faster, it comes off the bat harder."
The learning process that goes along with the Girls Little League softball of Wallingford begins at an early age and continues well into adolescence. The league features divisions that range all the way from tee-ball for 5- and 6-year-olds to a Senior League for players as old as 18.
"One year progresses into the next, which in turn prepares them for the following one," said Gaetano.
"They really grow and improve from season to season, which is wonderful to watch."
In addition to competing against other Wallingford squads, the volunteer-based league plays regular-season games against other girls Little League teams from Berlin, Wolcott, and New Britain.
At the conclusion of the regular schedule, girls are selected from the Wallingford in-town teams for all-star squads that compete in statewide competition.
The Wallingford Little League featured an AAA Minor League for ages 9-10 for the first time this season.
Despite being newcomers in this division, the Wallingford league fielded an all-star team that won the Little League Softball Connecticut District 5 Championship and is currently competing in the state sectional tournament.
"We're amazed at how well they've done" said Jan Thurston, who also helps coach the 9-10-year-old squad.
"To come out and win districts in our first year of existence is quite an accomplishment."
The 9-10 year-old division all-stars play Darien today at Unity Park in Trumbull in the second game of the sectional tourney.
The Girls need YOU!!
Parents coached on sport pitfalls
An expert admonishes grownups to emphasize fun, not pressure young athletes when they're competing. By DAVID KARP, ...