New Hyde Park’s run in the Little League Softball World Series ended on Monday night with a 6-1 loss to Hawaii.
It was the second tournament loss for the all-star girls team from New Hyde Park in its attempt to become the first New York team to win the World Series.
New Hyde Park committed five errors in the fifth inning of the game, leading to three runs, including two unearned, in its second consecutive loss in tournament pool play in Portland, Ore. New Hyder Park had lost earlier to a team from New Mexico 9-3.
The team was to play in the fifth place game of the tournament on Wednesday.
New Hyde Park coach Tom Donnelly said the losses in the last two games of pool play in the World Series hadn’t tarnished an outstanding season for New Hyde Park’s softball stars.
“The team had spectacular success going into the Little League World Series. We’ll always be the first team from New Hyde Park to go to the World Series,” Donnelly said, adding, “No other team from New Hyde Park softball had ever won the Eastern Region and we’ve done that twice.”
The same core group of players won the Eastern Region as 9- and 10-year-olds two years ago in a stunning post-season run.
This year’s team won the East Region championship on July 27 and became the first Long Island team to qualify for the World Series since an Islip team did so in 1993. The team comprises the top 11- and 12-year-old girls from the New Hyde Park Little League.
In the Monday night game against Hawaii, Donnelly said the New Hyde Park team was victimized by two bad calls by umpires, including one late in the grame that allowed two crucial runs to score.
In one case, with runners on base, Maggie Donnelly hit a ball to the infield that struck the shortstop’s glove and rolled away. Ann Grimshaw, running on the play from first base then “brushed” the shortstop, according to Donnelly, who said the umpire ruled there was interference on the play and called Donnelly out.
With New Hyde Park behind 3-1 and two runners on in the top of the fifth inning, the batter for Hawaii was called safe on an infield grounder, although Donnelly said the ball was fielded and thrown to first baseman Kayla Fitzpatrick in plenty of time. Both runners scored for Hawaii. On what would have been an inning-ending play, Donnelly said, the umpire also ruled that Fitzpatrick’s foot was off the bag.
The result was that when New Hyde Park went to bat in the bottom of the fifth, there were down 5-1 instead of 3-1.
“That’s the way it goes some days,” Donnelly said.
Donnelly conceded that both the Hawaii and New Mexico teams were stronger than New Hyde Park.
Donnelly said his players’ emotions got the best of them after the Monday night game that ended their hopes for a World Series title.
“They were devastated after the game,” he said. “To lose that way, it was very difficult. Most of them were crying.”
But by the evening, when the players were relaxing in the pool, he said they recovered and were prepared to play Mexico on Wednesday for fifth place.
“We’re going to be ready to go when we get to the field tomorrow,” he said.
Donnelly said the New Hyde Park girls had enjoyed the experience of meeting players from other teams from around the world and around the country and hit it off with the Hawaii players.
“They’ve had a lot of interaction with the other teams. They had a very friendly with the Hawaii team. It was a great experience for them,” Donnelly said.
New Hyde Park also had good experiences on the field at first, winning its first two games of the tournament against teams from the Phillipines and Canada by scores of 11-4 and 16-0.
New Hyde Park had a 2-0 early in its game against New Mexcio on Sunday night. The team led 5-3 in the 5th inning but New Mexico came back and won the game 9-3.
“They’re very good. They’re easily the best team here,” Donnelly said of the New Mexico squad followign the game.
Next year, Donnelly said, the outlook is uncertain for the New Hyde Park softball stars, who he said will likely compete on a travel team rather than play Little League ball.
Let us know what you think by tweeting @theislandnow1 using #nhpsoftballlosshawaii
