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WORCESTER — Despite their success in state championships at previous levels, Jesse Burkett head coach Kerin Smith admitted to feeling a bit of pressure heading into the Junior League Softball state championship at Bob Rousseeau Field at Vernon Hill on Thursday – but not for a lack of confidence in her players.
“So when they’re 14 years old, it’s their last chance for a state championship,” Smith said. “The girls were hyped and it didn’t faze them at all, but for me it was because I just wanted to get it so bad.”
The lineup put her mind at ease with an early offensive barrage against Canton, scoring four runs in the first and adding five more in the second in a 14-3 mercy-shortened romp.
The title marks the sixth consecutive state championship for the age group, with three of the players – Sophia D’Andrea, Sophia Delvalle and Madysen Smith – playing a part in all six conquests.
“It’s taught me so much about family and being one with your team and supporting everyone,” D’Andrea said. “The past six years have given me skills that I will use for the rest of my life in the outside world – relationships, how to stay up when you’re down, everything.”
The future looks just as bright for Jesse Burkett as the Under-10 and Under-12 squads won their respective state championships – a first in program history – hinting that the winning tradition may continue as players move through the system.
“We love that because we won when we were 10 and 12 and we got to go to Bristol, so it’s really great for the program that we’re still teaching and developing kids and they’re coming up and they’re doing the same things that we did,” Coach Smith said.
In the more immediate future, the current Junior League squad heads to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania for the East Regional where they’ll face teams from Maryland to Maine for a spot in the Little League World Series.
“I’m really excited to continue this journey with this team,” D’Andrea said. “I think we’ve all done a great job picking each other up and we’ve just become so close even though everyone’s from different teams. We did some team bonding and now we’re family and I’m so excited to face this new experience with them and battle with them the whole entire time.”
The theme for the early offensive explosion on Thursday was timely hitting with seven of the nine runs and six of the nine hits coming with two outs, including a two-run single by Delvalle in the first and RBI triples by Amaiya Febles and Leah Becker in the second.
“You’re going to have the pitcher throw pitches and you can use that against them,” said Smith, who followed a 10-pitch strikeout in her first at-bat with a run-scoring single and an RBI double later in the game. “You want to be able to know her speed and her pitches so later in the game you can tell the teammates what you saw to help your team win that championship.”
The early offense provided more than enough cushion for Delvalle, who allowed three runs on four hits and two walks around seven strikeouts in four innings. Coach Smith labeled her as their “go-to” having pitched multiple championship games for Burkett, including an extra-inning affair years ago against Canton that Delvalle still remembers well.
“I think there was a lot of pressure held on from that game and me being so young playing in a pressure-filled game like that has built me to take on pressure to this day,” Delvalle said.
Coach Smith had four pitchers read to go if necessary after Delvalle but turned to her usual closer in Ryan LeBlanc, who allowed two walks in the fifth but struck out two, including the final batter to seal the victory.
Jesse Burkett cruised through the tournament with a 7-0 record and put up some impressive numbers, with Madysen Smith leading the way with a 18 for 22 performance for an .818 batting average with 4 doubles and 19 RBIs. Darcy Molinari (.682 average, 5 doubles, 2 triples, 7 RBIs), Sammy Butland (.632 average, 2 doubles, 3 triples, 9 RBIs) and Febles (.600 average, 4 doubles, 2 rtiples, 10 RBIs) all hit over .600 and Delvalle (15Ks, 14 IP), Jocelyn Kinney (13 Ks, 11 IP) and Madysen Smith (13 Ks, 8⅔ IP) all had double-digit strikeouts in the circle.
—Contact Zachary Stuczko at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Jesse Burkett cruises to 6th straight Junior League state championship
Continue reading...
“So when they’re 14 years old, it’s their last chance for a state championship,” Smith said. “The girls were hyped and it didn’t faze them at all, but for me it was because I just wanted to get it so bad.”
The lineup put her mind at ease with an early offensive barrage against Canton, scoring four runs in the first and adding five more in the second in a 14-3 mercy-shortened romp.
You must be registered for see images attach
The title marks the sixth consecutive state championship for the age group, with three of the players – Sophia D’Andrea, Sophia Delvalle and Madysen Smith – playing a part in all six conquests.
“It’s taught me so much about family and being one with your team and supporting everyone,” D’Andrea said. “The past six years have given me skills that I will use for the rest of my life in the outside world – relationships, how to stay up when you’re down, everything.”
The future looks just as bright for Jesse Burkett as the Under-10 and Under-12 squads won their respective state championships – a first in program history – hinting that the winning tradition may continue as players move through the system.
You must be registered for see images attach
“We love that because we won when we were 10 and 12 and we got to go to Bristol, so it’s really great for the program that we’re still teaching and developing kids and they’re coming up and they’re doing the same things that we did,” Coach Smith said.
In the more immediate future, the current Junior League squad heads to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania for the East Regional where they’ll face teams from Maryland to Maine for a spot in the Little League World Series.
“I’m really excited to continue this journey with this team,” D’Andrea said. “I think we’ve all done a great job picking each other up and we’ve just become so close even though everyone’s from different teams. We did some team bonding and now we’re family and I’m so excited to face this new experience with them and battle with them the whole entire time.”
You must be registered for see images attach
The theme for the early offensive explosion on Thursday was timely hitting with seven of the nine runs and six of the nine hits coming with two outs, including a two-run single by Delvalle in the first and RBI triples by Amaiya Febles and Leah Becker in the second.
“You’re going to have the pitcher throw pitches and you can use that against them,” said Smith, who followed a 10-pitch strikeout in her first at-bat with a run-scoring single and an RBI double later in the game. “You want to be able to know her speed and her pitches so later in the game you can tell the teammates what you saw to help your team win that championship.”
You must be registered for see images attach
The early offense provided more than enough cushion for Delvalle, who allowed three runs on four hits and two walks around seven strikeouts in four innings. Coach Smith labeled her as their “go-to” having pitched multiple championship games for Burkett, including an extra-inning affair years ago against Canton that Delvalle still remembers well.
“I think there was a lot of pressure held on from that game and me being so young playing in a pressure-filled game like that has built me to take on pressure to this day,” Delvalle said.
You must be registered for see images attach
Coach Smith had four pitchers read to go if necessary after Delvalle but turned to her usual closer in Ryan LeBlanc, who allowed two walks in the fifth but struck out two, including the final batter to seal the victory.
Jesse Burkett cruised through the tournament with a 7-0 record and put up some impressive numbers, with Madysen Smith leading the way with a 18 for 22 performance for an .818 batting average with 4 doubles and 19 RBIs. Darcy Molinari (.682 average, 5 doubles, 2 triples, 7 RBIs), Sammy Butland (.632 average, 2 doubles, 3 triples, 9 RBIs) and Febles (.600 average, 4 doubles, 2 rtiples, 10 RBIs) all hit over .600 and Delvalle (15Ks, 14 IP), Jocelyn Kinney (13 Ks, 11 IP) and Madysen Smith (13 Ks, 8⅔ IP) all had double-digit strikeouts in the circle.
—Contact Zachary Stuczko at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Jesse Burkett cruises to 6th straight Junior League state championship
Continue reading...
