Equally impressive was the 10U team’s run to the championship game in their division. The 10U Barnstormers secured the number one seed for Sunday medal play with an impressive 3-0 pool play record (9-0 vs. MSO Villagers, 13-5 vs. Little Falls and 8-1 vs. ITZ Cavaliers). In the medal play round, Verona 10U dispatched MSO in the quarterfinals with a tidy 10-2 win. The semifinals again pitted Verona against the ITZ Cavaliers, a club team out of Flanders, N.J.
In arguably its best performance of the entire season, the 10U team vanquished the Cavs 5-0. The Barnstormers’ bats were as blistering as the heat early in the game as the girls plated four runs on five hits in the first inning off the Cavs’ talented number one pitcher. Sara Tortoriello led off the game with a bullet line drive down the right field foul line for a home run to give the 10U team a 1-0 advantage. Ava Perry, Natalia LoCurto and Isabella LaChina all followed with impressive singles. Lauren Paz’ triple–again down the right field line–scored LaChina and concluded the scoring in the first inning. The final run of the game was scored by Rachel Bochicchio in the fifth inning, who raced home all the way from first base on another bomb by Tortoriello over the right fielder’s head that went for a triple. LoCurto and Totoriello split the pitching responsibilities evenly (three innings each) during the game and held the Cavs lineup without a run. LaChina, Sydney Aiello and Kendall Aromando played flawless infield defense throughout the game to bolster the efforts of both pitchers.
Unfortunately, the 10U team fell short of the title with a 4-2 loss to Cedar Grove, whose pitcher kept the Verona offense off balance all day with a mix of fastballs and change-ups and whose scrappy offense found a myriad of ways to reach base and score the runs needed to win the game.
LoCurto and Sara Tortoriello shared the primary pitching responsibilities for the 10U team throughout the course of the weekend and both were exceptional. Tortoriello no-hit the MSO Villagers in a time shortened four inning affair in the Friday opener. She again did not allow a hit to the Little Falls Junior Hornets in a limited starting performance (three innings) in Verona’s second pool play game. From that point on in the tournament, Verona employed its “hydra” pitching strategy with LoCurto pitching the first three innings and Tortoriello finishing the game for the Barnstormers. LoCurto recorded three wins and Tortoriello secured two wins and two saves over the weekend. Combined LoCurto and Tortoriello limited the opposition to a total of seven runs over the six games played by the 10U Barnstormers. Ava Perry brilliantly handled the primary catching responsibilities for the 10U team throughout the weekend (with an assist from Aiello) and her leadership and toughness in the sweltering heat was integral in LoCurto and Tortoriello’s efforts.
The 10U offense was also remarkably efficient and well-balanced, scoring 47 runs over the course of the six games. All of the girls on the roster contributed to the offensive onslaught which was highlighted by the following performances: Tortoriello (2-3, HR, 3B, 2 RBIs vs. ITZ), Perry (1-2, BB, Run, SB vs. MSO), LoCurto (1-1, 2B, 2 BBs, 1 Run vs. ITZ), Aiello (1-1, BB, 2 Runs vs. Little Falls), LaChina (2-2, 2B, BB vs. Cedar Grove), Aromando (1-1, 1 Run, 2 RBIs vs. Little Falls), Jordyn Hannigan (1-1, BB, Run, RBI, SB vs. Little Falls), Paz (1-2, 3B, 1 RBI vs. ITZ), Emily Heimall (1-2, Run, 2 RBIs vs. Little Falls), Katie Meehan (1-2, SB, Run vs. MSO), Julia Loudon (2 BBs, 1 Run, 1 SB vs. MSO), Rachel Bochicchio (1-2, Run, 2 RBIs vs. Little Falls), and Georgeanne Valera (2-2, 3B, 2B, 2 Runs vs. ITZ).
