Girls Junior Little League Defeated By Staten Island 3-0

Even though the New Hyde Park Girls Junior Little League softball team lost to Staten Island on Monday night in the Section 5 title game, they were able to accomplish a major feat along the way. It was the first time in the history of New Hyde Park Little League softball that a 13-14 year old team won the district 29 championship by defeating Garden City South, 13-4 on July 16.

"Even though we lost tonight's game I'm still very proud of these girls," said Little League President Tom Pellegrino.  "They played in a very tough division all year and fought their way to the District 29 championship. We have won titles at all other age groups but this was a first for us and these girls."

Monday night, the girls played a fundamentally sound team from Staten Island who made few mistakes and were able to tack on runs early in the game to put the pressure on New Hyde Park.

"They scored two runs in the first inning so we needed to battle from behind early in the game," Pellegrino said. "Unfortunately we couldn't get a runner across the plate tonight."

Despite the lack of runs, New Hyde Park still got big hits from Kristen Hickey, Lisa Pellegrino and Sabrina Spiridigliossi. Kim Spagnuolo blasted a few line drives but Staten Island was always there to catch it.

Geena Fornataro pitched a great game, striking out multiple batters. Lisa Pellegrino also played made some spectacular catches in the short stop position.

"All in all, it was a very successful season for the New Hyde Park Little League softball program in 2011," Pellegrino said. "We entered three teams into the district tournament and we were champions in each division."