By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
The Robbinsville 10-year-old all-star softball team can point first-hand to the usefulness of practice after winning the Eastern Region championship last Friday.
Robbinsville was wrapped up in a pitcher’s duel. Their own Brynn Hopkins was in control and their defense was solid as usual, but Exton, Pa., countered with its ace, who matched Hopkins shutout inning after shutout inning.
”It led to the final inning,” said Robbinsville manager Jon Iorio. “We had to try something different.”
It started with Arden Benner, the No. 9 batter, who led off the sixth inning with a bunt that went for a single. Ella Iorio followed with a bunt that also went for a single.
”That’s probably my best bunt,” Ella said. “Every practice, have a section of hitting. A part of the hitting is mostly bunting. Bunting is a big part of the team.”
After Iorio gave Robbinsville runners on first and second, it brought up Mackenzie Martin. When Iorio, Robbinsville’s usual leadoff gets on, Martin has proven to be adept at moving her to second with the bunt.
”She’s the best bunter on team, so it was a no brainer,” the elder Iorio said. “Mackenzie laid down another perfect bunt. By now, it had to be frustrating. We got three consecutive bunts down and they were all perfectly placed. We do a lot of practice bunting and it paid off.”
With the bases loaded, Hopkins came to the plate. Just as surely as Martin was up at the plate to bunt, Hopkins was up there to swing.
”I was nervous,” Hopkins said. “I just wanted to make contact and get it out of the infield.”
Hopkins delivered a bases-clearing triple, then came in to finish off a masterful pitching performance by retiring Exton without a run to give Robbinsville a 3-0 win for the regional championship banner.
”It feels really good,” Hopkins said. “It was a real team effort.”
The Robbinsville team was unbeaten since the second game of the District 12 Little League tournament. They became the latest Robbinsville softball team to earn a regional title. There is no World Series at the 9/10 level.
”The girls all along had an understanding that lots of eyes are on them given their predecessors having their success,” Jon Iorio said. “They understand people want to see what their group is about. They managed to show what they’re made of and performed absolutely fantastically throughout the entire tournament.
”Their performance, I think, all stems back to how difficult it is to get out of District 12. If you can get out, you have a chance to do well beyond it.”
Robbinsville proved it again in the regional tournament. They were perfect in pool play after edging New York, 4-3, in their pool play finale, then stopped Connecticut in the semifinal, 13-3. That set up a rematch with Exton, whom Robbinsville beat, 9-2, in pool play.
”Any time you face a team a second time in a tournament, especially in this case where the only loss they had was to us, you know they’ll be gunning for us,” Iorio said. “We knew it would be a close game. Their pitcher was amazing. She had most of our hitters in check until the big sixth inning. Hats off to her. She was a really good pitcher, probably one of the best we’ve seen since we’ve been together as a team. She was great. Our pitcher was great too.
”Brynn Hopkins just continued her stellar pitching and was able to keep us in the game until the very end. She’s always been able to keep us at least tied or ahead in almost every game that she’s pitched. Whether our offense gets a slow start or a late start, it’s always hinged on Brynn’s performance. She’s always kept us in the game.”
Hopkins did it again. Robbinsville struggled to get any runs on the board against Pennsylvania, which could have added to the pressure of the moment.
”We were worrying, but we still had a lot of hope and faith,” said Shea Krebs. “We just had the feeling and kept our hopes up and we won.”
In addition to giving Robbinsville another arm for pitching, Krebs was Robbinsville’s most consistent hitter in regionals. She led the team in batting average.
”I really tried to swing the bat, be aggressive and hit it early and hopefully get RBIs and help the team,” Krebs said. She is one of the pieces of a team that came together to enjoy a long run to their regional goal. They liked the challenge for the final.
”You always want to play a better team in the final to show you’re the best and not just crush them,” Hopkins said. “I was pretty confident. I thought we had a really good chance because we had a really strong team and could hit the ball and play good defense.”
It was a game that could have gone either way for a while. Robbinsville could have been anxious about not scoring early, but they didn’t let it show.
”We were feeling really good,” Hopkins said. “We have good defense. We were hitting the ball. They made pretty good plays. We knew they would break sometime.”
That break didn’t come until the sixth inning with the game on the line. Robbinsville executed in timely fashion.
Said Krebs: “When Arden Benner was told to put down a bunt, she actually got it down and that started our rally. Everyone started to contribute and started to finally score. It was really good.”
Three runs were plenty with Hopkins in the circle. She remained in control throughout the game which ended with Martin catching a liner to second base. Her consistency and confidence in the players behind were some of the keys that she noted in her pitching performance.
”Pitching inside and having really, really good defense,” Hopkins said. “Mackenzie had great plays and Ella has a really good arm.”
Ella Iorio used to be a shortstop, but for a little over a year she has been catching. It’s an adjustment, but she likes the extra action.
”I like them both equally because they’re both important,” Iorio said. “I like catcher because I’m in every pitch.”
Iorio has the opportunity to catch two consistent pitchers. When Hopkins isn’t it, it’s Krebs who takes her turn pitching.
”I think I pitched pretty good,” Krebs said. “I pitched against Delaware and Connecticut. I tried to hit my spots. I had a great defense behind me. I think I had a lot of support behind me.”
That support makes it easier for the pitchers to throw strikes. If opposing teams hit it, they know their defense can make the play. And having two good pitchers has been a bonus through their run.
”I like it because we can switch back and forth,” Hopkins said. “If one of isn’t pitching so well, one of us can pick up the other one.”
Robbinsville kept itself going strong all summer. It began with a difficult district and then they found their groove as they moved through the higher levels.
”In districts, we had to play East Windsor twice,” Ella Iorio said. “I was really nervous. East Windsor already crushed us. I didn’t think we’d make it through. Once we got past East Windsor, I felt confident.
”I felt like we got better,” she added. “We practice every day. We have a lot of team spirit. If someone struck out, we just cheered them on.”
Keeping themselves upbeat through the challenges they faced was a key. Robbinsville didn’t have tons of adversity, but when it did, it didn’t slow them down on their way to their goal.
”It’s been really crazy,” Krebs said. “We’ve got a couple days off, but mostly we practiced and tried our hardest to get ready. This last month, we won pretty much all our games except one against East Windsor. That didn’t derail us. We kept playing.
”It felt amazing (to win),” she said. “All the hard work that we put into every day, it paid off. We were just ready. Once Mackenzie made that last out, I actually threw my glove up in the air and I celebrated with my team.”
It was a moment that they had been practicing for all summer, and the Robbinsville 10s were overjoyed to reach the pinnacle of their level.
”We finally won and at that moment, there was a feeling I couldn’t express,” Jon Iorio said. “I was overcome with emotions as were the other coaches and parents. The kids were jumping around. They had worked so hard. You could tell once they had gotten this done and knew they were a team bonded together forever after this great tournament run, it was special. It was really something to see.”
It’s a moment they will remember and use to inspire them as they cheer on the Robbinsville 12-year-old girls in the World Series. And when they are done enjoying this year’s success, they will start thinking about what it would mean to win another regional and reach a World Series.
”We have to practice a lot and work hard,” Hopkins said. “I think hard work will pay off.”

