Brunswick Chaos takes third place at Pony Nationals
Newly formed team
finds success at
national tournament
After coming together in June to play summer softball, the Brunswick Chaos peaked at just the right time and took third-place honors out of a field of 101 teams at the Pony Nationals in Raleigh, N.C.
The Chaos, an under 16 girls softball team, is based out of the East Brunswick Baseball League. The team consists of members of the East Brunswick, South Brunswick and North Brunswick High School teams.
After playing against each other for years, the girls came together this season to play competitively together. The team competed in local tournaments as well as Pony and National Softball Association qualifiers.
Finally, after placing second in five out of the six tournaments they entered, they took first place in the Howell Tournament, played during the weekend of July 28-29. After a well-deserved week off, they packed up and headed off to Raleigh on Aug. 4.
According to Kathy Assini, whose daughter Jamie plays on the team, the Chaos’ success at the Pony Nationals came as a surprise to everyone.
"Quite honestly, we were looking forward to a great experience and the opportunity to play some good ball. It wasn’t with any expectation of placing in the top four," she said. "We were just anxious for the girls to experience a national tournament with the pin trading and all the excitement that goes along with just being there."
Playing all week in temperatures ranging from 97 to 103 degrees, the girls lost their first game of pool play to the Vienna Stars, Va., in a close 1-0 match.
However, they won the next eight straight, coming from behind on a number of occasions to do so.
They went on to beat Shen Shock, N.J., and the Lehigh Valley Blue Devils from Pennsylvania to earn the No. 2 seed out of their bracket into double elimination play.
In double elimination, they stayed in the winners bracket, beating the Connecticut Avalanche, Cambria County Comets, Pa., and the North Carolina Challengers, twice.
Their winning play led them into the Sweet 16 single-elimination round where, in the Friday night first-round game against Long Island Riptide, rain caused a discontinuation of play
This allowed the Chaos to go back to their hotel, contemplating their situation: fifth inning, down by one, no outs and their lead-off batter on third.
A good night’s sleep, a passed ball and a few timely hits, along with strong defensive play, all went together the next morning to allow the Chaos to move into the Elite 8.
A quarterfinal win against the New York Revolution propelled the Chaos into the final four. In the semifinals, the Chaos surrendered to a strong Connecticut Tradition team, 3-0, and earned themselves a third-place trophy.
"The girls brought home a lot more than trophies this summer," Assini said. "This season was one of great memories and wonderful, new friendships.
"It will be interesting to watch them in the spring when they take the field against each other wearing their school colors instead of the powder blue and lime green uniforms of the Brunswick Chaos," she continued.
The roster included East Brunswick’s Jamie Assini, Amee Chroniewski, Stephanie Doud, Dara Gadziala, Thasia LaDuca, Jill Masterton, Stefanie Nicosia, Laura Prevete and Ashley Stapleton; South Brunswick’s Nikki Monfasani, Larissa Rogan, Kim Ryan and Pam Weiss; and North Brunswick’s Liz Nazaro.
The team is managed by Kathy Assini and Larry Nicosia, and coached by Jen Cleary-Tate, Becky Cleary and Pat Cleary.