With 'grit' and 'heart', Toms River finds a path at Little League Softball World Series
· Yahoo Sports
After losing their opening matchup of the Little League Softball World Series, the Toms River All-Stars are facing a win-or-go-home situation in every subsequent game of the double elimination tournament.
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But if the girls from New Jersey play how they did in their second game on Tuesday, they won't be coming home anytime soon.
Despite playing through another bout of turbulent weather on Tuesday in Greenville, North Carolina, Toms River raced out to a 9-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back. New Jersey rolled to a 13-3 victory by run rule against Connecticut, ending the game in four innings.
"It just shows the grit and the heart of this whole squad," Toms River manager Neal Gay said. "I don't even know how to put into words what that first inning was. That was just every single girl, one through 12 (in the lineup), being able to help."
Toms River is representing New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic Region at the tournament and have already left a lasting mark. The girls set a new record for runs scored in a game by a Mid-Atlantic team since the region was created in 2022. It was also the sixth run-rule result of this World Series after there were only five such results in last year's tournament. In an interesting twist, both the Toms River All-Stars and the New England team from Bristol, Connecticut had won their respective regions on the same field at Little League East headquarters, although they hadn't played each other.
The lopsided results are also somewhat indicative of the effect the rainy weather has had on the games. After Toms River fell behind 3-0 to Japan in the first inning on Sunday, both teams endured a long rain delay before resuming play. Japan went on to finish the 4-1 victory.
"I don't think the rain had anything to do with it. In fact, I think the rain even helped us," Gay said. "We just were not prepared, bottom line. We just were flat. And for us to come out today, that was something we reiterated over and over. On our off day and even this morning; we need to come out better. We need to be ready."
New Jersey responded emphatically Tuesday, putting the ball in play and applying the pressure to the Connecticut defense while mostly minimizing their own lapses. Naturally, pitcher Jaelyn Brown endured the brunt of the difficulties with the wet conditions. Despite struggling with her grip, she set the tone with two strikeouts in a scoreless first inning. From there, the Toms River offense quickly built an insurmountable lead.
Analeise Curley got things started with leadoff single and Franki Velardi had a perfectly placed bunt for another single. Jaelyn Brown then loaded the bases with a walk, and the first run scored when Briella Bognar was hit by a pitch. Carly Leonard then added another score with an RBI single, and the first highlight hit was a bases-loaded triple by Juliana Florek-Doslik that extended the New Jersey lead to 5-0. Aviana Gay added another RBI on a muffed ground ball, giving Toms River a 6-0 lead before Connecticut had recorded an out.
The Toms River All-Stars weren't content to let the bats cool off as they ripped hits into the wet field. Leiana Gaya made it 7-0 with a blooper single. After that score, Connecticut was forced to make a pitching change for the second time in the inning. It still wasn't enough to stop New Jersey from successfully batting through the lineup in the bottom of the first, as Shaelyn Seaman hit a two-RBI single to cap off the early rally.
Even with a 9-0 lead, the aggressiveness of Toms River was unwavering as they sought a swift victory. After a leadoff walk by Velardi, Carly Leonard drew another walk and attempted to take second base. Connecticut caught Leonard in a rundown, but an errant throw allowed her to reach second and Velardi to score. New Jersey continued to show off astute base-running as Leonard and Florek-Doslik subsequently scored on wild pitches.
Leiana Gay capped off the scoring with a hit that was nearly identically to her first, another blooper into right field for an RBI single to extend the Toms River lead to 13-0 going into the third.
Connecticut responded with a two-RBI triple by Keeva Knowles to avoid the shutout in the top of the third and had a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom frame. Down to the last out, Connecticut continued to push to avoid the run-rule loss in the top of the fourth as the rain picked up.
Brown was clearly struggling to handle the ball in the conditions. The ball went flying out of her hand as she winded up to pitch, providing another run for Connecticut. She walked three straight before the game was finally paused for 50-minute rain delay. When the two teams returned, it was a prompt finish. After just three pitches, Toms River finished off the 13-3 win with a groundout smoothly handled by Velardi.
With the win, New Jersey advances to play another elimination game on Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. on ESPN2. They will face a familiar foe in Japan, which beat Northern California 1-0 in an elimination game Tuesday afternoon.
"Getting this win under our belt was fantastic to get little momentum in the right direction," Gay said. "We would love to play Japan again, but we can only play who we play. If it's Japan, great. Obviously it's nice because we have film on them, we have games against them."
Toms River is trying to become the first team since 2011 to win the Little League Softball World Series while coming out of the losers bracket. But that isn't unfamiliar territory for the team after it lost the first matchup against Pennsylvania in the Mid-Atlantic Tournament, only to respond with a 5-3 comeback victory in the final. They could potentially replicate that pattern against Japan on Wednesday, the second of five victories the team would need to win the World Series title.
But regardless, Tuesday's emphatic victory is another priceless memory for the girls from Toms River that have already created plenty of memorable moments this summer. The experience itself is the reward, but a few more wins would be a welcome addition.
"Continue to enjoy every moment of this," Gay said. "But it's still four more, and it's one at a time. That's the best way I can say it. Whoever's up next, it's just one at a time. We can't worry about the semifinals and the championship, we just have to worry about one game at a time."
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: With 'grit' and 'heart', Toms River finds a path at Little League Softball World Series