MILLSTONE — Though they fell short of their goal of winning a district championship, members of the Millstone-Roosevelt Little League 11- and 12-year-old girls all-star softball team showed a lot of character in the recent District 12 Tournament.
Millstone was eliminated from the nine-team double-elimination event on July 13 in the loser’s bracket championship game by New Egypt, 5-3, according to assistant coach Lou Bakacs.
New Egypt went on to face defending tournament champion Bordentown in the championship game and Bordentown won the game en route to its second straight District 12 title.
The teams in the event represented Millstone-Roosevelt, Bordentown, Allentown, Cranbury-Plainsboro, Lawrence, Chambersburg, East Windsor, West Windsor and New Egypt.
Millstone, which finished with a 4-2 record in the tournament, lost its first game to Bordentown on July 5. That put the local squad in the loser’s bracket, facing elimination in every subsequent game.
Millstone won four straight games to reach the loser’s bracket final before being eliminated by New Egypt.
"We wanted to get another shot at Bordentown," Bakacs said. "The first game was close for three innings and then we had one of those innings where things got away from us. But the coaching staff (Bakacs, Jack Ballo and Bob Crane) is thrilled with how the girls came back after losing that first game. They could have folded up the tent but they came back as strong as ever and we are very proud of them."
A year ago, Millstone’s 9- and 10-year-old all-star softball team — which featured the same coaching staff and most of the same players — lost its first tournament game and then won five straight games to advance to the championship round where they were beaten by Bordentown.
Millstone’s victories in this year’s tournament came against East Windsor, 15-3, Lawrence, 23-13, West Windsor, 11-8 in seven innings, and Allentown, 15-5.
On July 12, Millstone defeated Allentown, 15-5, in four innings in the loser’s bracket semifinals to advance to the loser’s bracket final against New Egypt.
After Allentown scored three runs off pitcher Caitlin Ryan in the top of the first inning, Millstone came right back to knot the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the inning.
Ryan settled down and held Allentown scoreless over the next two innings while Millstone broke the game open with three runs in the second and nine in the third.
Hitting stars for Millstone were Ryan (2-2, 2 BB, 4 RBI); Caitlin Reardon (2-3, 3 RBI); Dominique Cerulo (HR, 2 BB); and Carly Machiz (2B, 2 BB, 2 RBI).
Millstone only had six hits in the game but drew 12 walks.
Now on a four-game winning streak, Bakacs said Millstone was ready to face New Egypt in the loser’s bracket finals on July 13.
"We were familiar with New Egypt," he said. "We had played against their teams in the regular season. In the same situation if we played them 10 times, I think we’d have a pretty good chance to win most of the time. New Egypt is a solid team, though, and they deserve credit."
Solid enough to deliver a 5-3 loss to Millstone and end the local girls’ run at a District 12 title.
Amie Ballo was the starting pitcher for Millstone and pitched a solid game, according to Bakacs. Ballo allowed two earned runs, but was victimized by seven errors behind her.
After New Egypt jumped out to a 2-0 lead, Millstone fought back. An single by Kristen Mueller scored Angela Millin in the third inning. In the fourth, Caitlyn Crane walked, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on an error.
New Egypt got the runs it needed in the top of the fifth, scoring three times on a combination of hits and Millstone errors to take a 5-2 lead.
In Millstone’s last at-bat in the sixth inning, Brittany Bakacs singled to lead off. After the next two hitters struck out, Mueller reached on an error and Machiz walked to load the bases. Bakacs scored Millstone’s last run on an error.
"The coaching staff loved the way we came back and put a scare into New Egypt," Bakacs said. "We went down fighting and fought to the bitter end. We were proud of the way the girls did that, not only in the last game but throughout the entire tournament."
Millstone’s all-star roster included Brittany Bakacs, Amie Ballo, Dominque Cerulo, Caitlyn Crane, Victoria DeLuca, Carly Machiz, Angela Millin, Kristen Mueller, Caitlin Reardon, Caitlin Ryan, Jenna Schottlander and Ashley Toms.