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A Few Clouds Fillies are L.I. champs!
East Meadow softball team outscores opponents 62-5
The East Meadow Fillies were the lone local representative in this summer’s Williamsport Little League 11-and-under softball tournament, but, as it turned out, one team was more than enough.
The squad of a dozen girls cruised to a Section 6 Long Island Championship on July 18, with an 11-1 victory over Sayville. The win concluded a dominant four-game stretch in which the girls did their best impression of the 1927 New York Yankees, outscoring opponents 62-5 en route to the title.
The team of 11- and 12-year olds, who all play in the East Meadow Baseball Softball Organization, were handpicked to play on the travel team. “They all gel,” said head coach John Duhs, adding that the girls have played together for nearly four years. “They all get along well together.”
By Little League rules, the girls needed to be 11 at the start of 2013 to qualify for the 11U age group. All 12 girls, most of whom are students at Woodland Middle School, were born in 2001.
The Fillies began their journey after winning the district championship by default — no other local team signed up to challenge them in the age group. The lack of early work apparently paid off, as they proceeded to “mercy rule” each of their opponents in the L.I. tournament, defeating Bellmore 12-0, East Hampton 14-3 and Sayville 25-1. They beat Sayville one more time to clinch the championship, doing so on their home field on Merrick Avenue.
The Fillies were led by strong pitching performances by Julia Cuttone and Alyssa Yablansky, but Duhs said their success was attributable to a team effort. “Everybody plays their role,” he said. “To focus on any one individual, that would be kind of tough.”
A high point, Duhs said, came when the team blasted three home runs in a single game, against Bellmore, off the bats of Amy Mallah, Cuttone and Mary Boyle.
Duhs said that the girls — as well as the coaching staff — were “pumped up” after their dominating run, but had little time to celebrate. They were back on the field seven days later, this time in upstate Fishkill, competing for the state championship. “Everyone on the current team, it’s the furthest they’ve gotten,” Duhs said.
