The Verona 12U travel softball team capped off a perfect weekend with a 4-2 win over Bridgewater in the championship game of the 5th Annual North Brunswick Summer Blast Off tournament on Sunday. After an unblemished Saturday (3-0 record), the 12U Barnstormers lived up to their billing as the number one seed during Sunday medal play. The Barnstormers dispatched the NJ Venom 8-3 in the semi-final round behind the strong pitching of Mel Naeris, steady defense and timely hitting.
In the championship game, Verona raced out to an early 4-1 lead and held off a late Panthers rally. With the trying runs on 2nd and 3rd base, winning pitcher Lia Tortoriello induced the last Bridgewater batter to hit a pop-up which found her glove and the celebration was on.
Naeris’ and Tortoriello’s pitching efforts were backed by the formidable offensive and defensive talents of their 12U teammates Sara Bochicchio, Kayla Brower, Sam Costigan, Liv Garcia, Sinclaire Infusino, Jackie Loudon, Megan Meehan, Faith Reed, Savannah Szamborski and Sabrina Thompson. Congratulations to all the girls, manager Peete Naeris and assistant coaches Walt Szamborski and Ronnie Infusino on the title.
