Rooney, Huttner aided World Series champs
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Liz Huttner and Johnny Rooney were tuned intently in their homes to ESPN2 on Wednesday night for the Little League Softball World Series.
The Packet-area products have coached at the travel level almost the entire make-up of the Robbinsville Little League 12-year-old all-star softball team. The Robbinsville manager is another Packet-area product, Montgomery High School graduate Mark Walsh.
”I talked to him before (Tuesday) night’s game and (Wednesday),” said Rooney, a MHS graduate who was in Walsh’s wedding. “He was pretty psyched up.”
Walsh had to be even more excited after his team became the first from Robbinsville Little League to win a World Series championship, 4-1, over a team from Louisiana, though he hid his excitement well in post-game interviews with ESPN.
”Mark is a class act,” Rooney said. “He always makes it about the kids. He puts a lot on the kids, but he also makes it always about the kids. He never makes it about himself. When we’ve handed out trophies, when newspapers have called, he does a great job of it. What we should do as adults is make it about the kids.”
Walsh was a standout golfer at MHS. Rooney calls him, “Montgomery’s best golfer. The golf course he had to play on, and what he did. . . We played basketball together. He was a great shooter, and he played soccer.”
Walsh claims not to remember any of his athletic accomplishments at MHS, but he won’t have a difficult time remembering his Robbinsville girls’ World Series win.
”I’ve said all along, it’s always about the girls,” Walsh said. “They’re out there working hard and putting in the time to make themselves better players. It’s nice to share with them.”
Many of the girls on the Robbinsville Little League team show their dedication by playing year-round with the Jersey Outlaws travel team that Rooney and Huttner help coach with Walsh. Rooney was head coach at Montgomery High School when the Walsh family came to a game in 2009 between the Cougars and a rising Robbinsville High School team.
”He asked if I would come make a guest appearance,” Rooney recalled. “That one practice turned into so much involvement. It was all because he said, would you come out and work with a few of the girls?”
Now Rooney runs the travel practices, and Huttner, a former West Windsor-Plainsboro High South star who played at The College of New Jersey, this year was brought on board to the Outlaws coaching staff.
”It was, one, to have a female in the program, and a young female,” Huttner said. “You see more people outside parents coaching now. I was brought in to work on outfield.”
Huttner had played for the West Windsor Little League growing up, and remembers her days in District 12 tournaments. Robbinsville wasn’t around in the same form it is now.
”It’s so different,” Huttner said. “When I played, Robbinsville was Washington Township. I was watching their state games and I remember playing on that field. The hardest thing was getting out of districts. It’s great to see. They’re definitely a powerhouse. It’s such a small town and they care about softball so much.”
Huttner was as proud as anyone when Robbinsville right fielder Devon Witt caught a hard, long drive with the bases loaded to finish Louisiana’s third inning.
”Devon is one of the girls I coach in the outfield,” Huttner said. “She has improved so much, technically, mentally, in so many ways. I knew she could make the catch.”
Huttner enjoys staying in the game. Since graduation, she has been keeping busy with finding coaching opportunities, and she jumped at the chance to help the Robbinsville girls.
”West Windsor started this travel program I’m going to help with too,” she said. “Coaching is the other side to playing. I love playing, but I love coaching and having that other perspective. I like it a lot.”
Rooney, too, is enjoying coaching a different level since leaving Montgomery High’s program after a successful run that saw the Cougars win a Group III state championship and two Somerset County Tournament titles.
”The Robbinsville softball has been great to work with,” Rooney said. “I’m still helping recruit at Mercer. I couldn’t get to practices and games anymore because of my school schedule, but now that I’m involved in travel programs, I’m involved in some tournaments. I’ve been talking to some kids to help him recruit. This has been a nice transition to just doing travel. It’s also kept me fresh in the game if I do want to go back into either high school or college.”
Rooney and Huttner have been training the Robbinsville team to play against girls older than they are. Playing up an age level means that while the Robbinsville Little League collection went 22-0 this summer, they have actually seen them get beaten, and how they react makes both of them proud to work with them.
”They’re gracious losers,” Huttner said. “I think they realize that losing makes you better and makes you tougher as a player. We also came back in some games. They certainly know how to play. They were down 2-0 in their last regional game and came back to win.”
Both Huttner and Rooney are thankful for the opportunity to coach a dedicated group of girls, and the chance to work with the other Robbinsville coaches.
”They’re a great group of girls,” Huttner said. “They play the game the way it should be. They’re polite. They genuinely want to improve as softball players. They were very open to me when I came, as were the parents. It was nice to see. And when they get to high school, it’ll be even more insane. It’s crazy to think they’re this good at such a young age.”
Huttner and Rooney can take some credit for their success. They have brought their experiences to a group that is hungry to learn more with each bringing a slightly different background and talents to the table.
”Getting Liz involved in the program has been excellent,” Rooney said. “The type of player she was speaks for itself. It’s nice to have a female role model that can demonstrate and relate to the girls girl-to-girl. And Liz played at West Windsor when I coached at Montgomery and we’ve had some fun joking around about the games we played. It’s been fun to watch these girls this summer. They work hard and it paid off.”
It’s a lot of work, and a lot of time together, but the results show it was worth it. It’s why they are planning on staying with the group, growing and developing them into even better players.
”I’m hoping to stay a part of it,” Rooney said. “For me, it’s obviously coaching the game of softball and obviously a special group of kids. And for Mark and I, it’s another way to continue a friendship. We see each other now on a weekly basis. It’s been cool for me. I’m not a parent yet. To watch him interact with his daughter, it’s been a nice thing to watch. He’s been a good role model as to what I think a dad or coach should be with their child.”
Walsh was quite an athlete at MHS, even if he doesn’t care to remember his glory days. He has become quite a manager.
”He has fallen in love with coaching softball,” Rooney said. “He gets to be on the field with his daughter. He’s a thinker. He loves the strategy. The friendship part of it is great. Getting to be around him is great. We don’t get to spend as much time away from the softball field, but it’s kind of cool spending time on Sunday at softball practice.
”I didn’t know what direction he would go (after high school). Going forward, I think he’ll only get more involved in it now. It’ll get him more excited to build with whatever program he goes forward with.”
The Outlaws will continue to challenge themselves. The plan is to continue to play in divisions older than they are in hopes that — as it did during the Little League World Series — it will pay off down the line.
”It’s been fun to get to know another group of kids, and another set of parents,” Rooney said Wednesday. “Tonight was exciting, last night as well. To see them play as well as they did, and how they represented their town and the sport, it was really cool.”