The Upper Freehold Redbirds Babe Ruth Softball 8U team will play in the Baby Ruth 8U World Series July 29 to Aug. 5 in Florida. The 8U team is the first from the Allentown-Upper Freehold program to play in the World Series. Many girls on the Upper Freehold Redbirds Babe Ruth Softball 8U team have been to Florida to visit Disney World and other attractions, and 12 girls on the team will return to the Sunshine State at a different destination.
They will compete in the first Babe Ruth 8U World Series Tournament July 29 to Aug. 5 in the Gainesville area of Alachua County.
“We’re ready to go,” third baseman Nicole Infante said.
“We’re really excited. The team follows directions. They hustle and run to the ball,” second baseman Madeline Kish said.
“We’re all excited because we all can work together as a team,” left fielder Rebecca Guglielmo said.
The Upper Freehold Redbirds 8U is the first all-star team to go to a World Series from the Allentown-Upper Freehold program that also has 10U and 12U teams. They qualified for the World Series as the second-place team to Hamilton in the District 1 tournament. The top two teams advance to Florida.
“We played harder in the tournament and were focused on hitting the ball,” Infante said.
The Redbirds competed in two invitational tournaments prior to the districts, finishing third in one tournament in East Brunswick and second in another in Hamilton. They are entered in the Sid Lee Invitational July 24-26 in South Brunswick.
“We have only 22 girls in the league, and there are programs in Cherry Hill, Delsea and Hamilton that have 300, 400, 500 kids,” said Redbirds manager Mike Guglielmo, who is joined on the staff by coaches Rocco Infante and Dawn Kish. “We’ve made a lot of progress. Last year, we lost badly in similar tournaments that we were in this year. The league has made a big effort to revamp and rebuild softball, and we’ve gotten a lot of support from the parents. They’re a good group of people and a good group of kids who made changes in vacation plans to go to this tournament.” The cost to cover tournament expenses per child is $3,000 — $36,000 total for the team — with two fundraisers at restaurants. The first was July 8 at Red Robin in Hamilton Marketplace. Another is July 15 at LaPiazza in Allentown. Customers bringing in a flyer that day can have 15 percent of their purchase go toward the Redbirds. There also is an online site for donations at www.gofundme.com/xmtnyk that has raised more than $6,000 as of July 6.
“We want to reach our goal as close as we can,” manager Guglielmo said.
The key to this age group is to keep running after a hit because they never know when there is an opportunity to stretch a single into a double and maybe beyond that. And they need to stay on their toes on defense.
“They are very heads-up and know what to do with the ball when they get it,” Guglielmo said. “They’re pretty solid defensively, and we have girls who can throw across from third base to first or from the outfield to the infield well. Three or four girls can mash the ball.”
“If all the girls can throw to me so I can catch it, we can get a lot of outs,” said first baseman Katie Kraemer, who also is one of the heavy hitters with Infante, shortstop Sofia Belardino and Brooke Bauer, one of the two catchers who also can play in the outfield.
“I’ve always hit the ball hard,” Belardino said.
“Our coaches are teaching us really good,” said Bauer, one of three newcomers in the program who made the allstar team along with Tatum Menzies, the other catcher, and right fielder Taylor Lalla.
Belardino is one of the pitchers, along with Giada Toleno. At this age level, the girls don’t pitch, as the ball is pitched by an adult, Guglielmo said. The pitcher stands alongside the adult on the mound and must field any grounders hit back toward the mound.
Other players are designated hitter and outfielder Katie Uggiano and outfielders Kate Lachance and Kylie Elefante.
“They all blend really well. Some play together on other rec teams in town,” Guglielmo said. “We want them to take this trip. They may never get a chance like this again.”